Value for money checks over NHS spending are shrouded in uncertainty owing to audit delays, weaknesses in financial systems, and backlogs, MPs have said. The Commons public accounts committee also raised concerns about the level of money spent on settling clinical negligence cases, which hit £2.6bn in the most recent year.
A report from the committee, published on 10 May, examining the Department of Health and Social Care’s accounts said that fundamental mistakes were happening in financial management and accountability for public spending in the department and in the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the government’s public health body that focuses on health protection and security.1 Financial controls remained unacceptably weak in the UKHSA in particular, said MPs, …