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According to an update report from the National Audit Office yesterday, there was a surplus of £2.1 billion across the NHS as a whole in 2012-13, matching that in 2011-12.

Yesterday’s report recognizes that the financial performance of NHS trusts and foundation trusts should be considered in the context of a period of little to zero growth in funding for NHS services over the last two years and during a period of significant structural change across the NHS. Measured by the total surplus or deficit of hospital trusts, financial performance for the NHS appears stronger in 2012-13 than it did in 2011-12. However, there are signs of increasing pressure.

As the NAO’s analysis at the same time last year also found, there was a substantial gap between the trusts with the largest surpluses and those with the largest deficits. When primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities are also included, there is a similar variation between local health economies. The NAO found that some regions were in overall surplus, while others were not. The differences are most marked in London, where PCT clusters in parts of west London had some of the largest surpluses, whereas outer north-east London had one of the largest deficits.

Full report: 2012-13 update on indicators of financial sustainability in the NHS