Sandwell Hospital bosses frustrated over £1 million owed by Birmingham City Council
Bosses at the trust which runs Sandwell Hospital have ramped up the pressure on a council over more than £1 million it is owed in unpaid fines.
The Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is desperate to recoup the huge sum of cash from Birmingham City Council in order to ease its financial pressures.
Trust bosses have grown frustrated at the council's failure to pay the debt and previously said they would consider legal action against the authority.
The money relates to fines for delayed transfers of care, when patients are unable to leave hospital and move into the social care system, known as bed blocking and has been owed for a year and a half.
The delay as particularly irked trust chiefs as they are struggling with their own finances, reporting a £11.9 million deficit for 2016/17.
Toby Lewis, chief executive of the trust, told the latest board meeting: "In cash terms clearly this is an issue. In July we will be applying for a cash loan and while that £1 million won't stop us from applying for the loan it will be a contributing factor."
Asked if the dire financial state of many councils should be taken into consideration, Mr Lewis responded: "This is a statutory obligation and we all have to adhere to statutory obligations.
"I'm not saying they should take out a loan but they have considerable more borrowing latitude than we have."
Mr Lewis added: "What we need from the city council is a plan.
"We seek to agree a satisfactory position going forward."
Waseem Zaffar, a Birmingham councillor who also sits on the hospital board, said he did not want the dispute to end up in the courts.
He said: "There has been a change in chief executive at the council, there is three new people to negotiate with.
"I have spoken to the cabinet member for health and her advice is, once all the elections are out the way, to write to the chief executive.
"I don't think the council or the trust want to go down the route of a court battle between the two organisations."
Birmingham City Council spokeswoman Sarah Kirby said: "We are aware of considerations regarding claims for historic fines.
"Everyone is aware of the frail nature of social care funding in Birmingham and across the country and the council remains committed to trying to find positive ways of addressing the crisis."
