COVID-19 cost the trust which runs Basingstoke hospital an additional £1.4 million in August this year, figures show.

In a finance report published for Hampshire Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) board of directors, the most recent figures available, for August, showed that expenditure related to Covid-19 increased by £0.3 million from July, totalling £1.4m.

This represented 3.1 per cent of expenditure by the trust.

The report said this was “consistent with the increase in the number of Covid patients, staff sickness and self-isolation rates”.

It added: “August has been a very difficult month – financially and operationally. The trust is struggling to hit the breakeven position.”

It said this will result in “greater spending constraints on the trust normal operations and ambitions for developments”.

The report said this will be “very difficult operationally and culturally given the greater financial resources of the past 18 months, necessitated by the response to the unprecedented public health crisis”.

It added: “The trust has been allocated sufficient resources and support to meet the enormous challenges of Covid. However, the resources will undoubtedly be much tightened in the future.”

While the trust saw a decrease in money spent on agency staff in August, it said there is still a risk that expenditure will increase in line with the additional pressure of staff sickness and self-isolation.