A plan to radically change NHS services in Huddersfield needs more than £490m of investment if it is to succeed.
But the local NHS organisations behind the hospital shake-up proposal have admitted they may not receive the full amount.
Greater Huddersfield and Calderdale clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are bidding for a significant proportion of a Government fund set up to turn around struggling local NHS services across England.
The Transformation and Sustainability Fund, introduced last year, will be worth £3.4bn in 2020/21.
And Greater Huddersfield and Calderdale CCGs, which manage local NHS services, are asking for a substantial chunk of it.
But other local NHS organisations around the country in similar crises are also likely to be asking for large chunks of the fund.
Outlining the Right Care Right Time Right Place plan local NHS chiefs admitted: “The preferred option is dependent upon securing external funding support of £490.4m.”
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According to an industry expert there is a likelihood that the CCGs will not receive the full amount.
It is also believed that £200m of the cash alone will be used to pay off local NHS debts.
The source said: “Essentially, there’s a finite pot to do this and I know that a lot of national chiefs are aware of the Huddersfield and Halifax situation and believe that it needs to be done sharpish.
“It’s likely that Huddersfield and Halifax will be proposed. Whether they get that (the full amount) will be another...
“Almost £500m just for Calderdale and Huddersfield is quite a big amount to ask for.”
And as the amount Greater Huddersfield and Calderdale CCGs are bidding for is carefully costed any reduction is likely to have significant impacts on the service, the expert warned.
He said: “£200m of that £490m is just to cover the debt.”
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A spokesperson for the CCGs declined to say whether the organisations were guaranteed to get the full £490.4m.
The Examiner asked if the CCGs had any contigency plans in place should they not receive the full amount. The CCGs declined to respond.
A spokesperson for the CCGs said: “Options for funding are being explored with the Department of Health. The funding will bring a significant economic boost to both local areas.
The pre-consultation business case says that: ‘The preferred option is dependent upon securing external funding support of £490.4m.’ This external funding will cover the costs of the new buildings and of making the service changes.”
