NHS Improvement (NHSI) has today published headline Q1 finances for the provider sector, covering the period 1 April 2016 to 30 June 2016.

This briefing provides a summary of the headline figures, our view on what it means for the sector, and our media response and coverage. Additional detail will be supplemented in due course, following full publication of the underlying data sets.

The Q1 net deficit for the sector is -£461 million. This includes the receipt of Q1 Sustainability and Transformation Fund (STF) allocations for those providers which met their control totals and agreed to performance improvement trajectories. The net deficit has fallen by a total of £469 million, from a net deficit of £930 million in Q1 2015/16.

The Q1 net deficit is £5 million better than planned. 153 providers are now reporting a deficit, compared to 190 at Q1 2015/16. The factors cited as contributing to this reduction are:

Receipt of STF funding: 185 out of the 214 providers that accepted their control totals met their Q1 targets, which allowed them to receive their STF payments for Q1;

The Q1 2016/17 aggregate pay bill including agency costs: this was £9.8 million better than plan. The report states that as a result of national measures introduced in 2015/16, “trusts are currently on course to reduce their combined annual agency staff costs by £1 billion this year”.