Confirmation that almost half of Primary Care Trusts are on track to end the financial year in the red is extremely worrying for anyone in social services - and hardly surprising given that £1.6bn is being held back from PCT and other budgets in order to balance the books elsewhere in the NHS.
There is already plenty of evidence to suggest that such cash-strapped PCTs are shunting costs to local authorities, to the detriment of services and service users. Only last week, a survey carried out by Terrence Higgins Trust and professional associations, for example, revealed that money intended for sexual health has been diverted elsewhere by almost two-third of PCTs.
The NHS must find other ways to balance its books next year if there is to be any hope of achieving effective joint working between health and social services and of taking the preventive agenda forward around key issues such as sexual health, mental health, and substance misuse.
Failure to do so will only help keep the UK at the bottom of the pile in terms of children's wellbeing.