MP'S FEARS OVER HOSPITAL DEBT

That's the view of Lewes MP Norman Baker, who was speaking following a meeting at the Princess Royal Hospital at Haywards Heath with Peter Coles and Glynn Jones, respectively the Chief Executive and Chairman of the Trust. He is now calling for the government to wipe the slate clean in return for the implementation of measures that will prevent future deficits from occurring.

The Trust has an accumulated historic deficit of 10m, and is likely to go a further 11.3 in the red this year. A "turnaround team" has been sent in by the government to find ways of cutting costs, and there are worries of significant job losses.

Mr Baker said: "We can argue as to why this large deficit has occurred. In my view, this is partly about money being siphoned away from the south-east to other parts of the country, partly about the pressures of an ageing population, and partly about bad management in the past.

"But whatever the reasons, what matters now is to get the ship back on an even keel, but to do so without damaging the service available to my constituents, and indeed those of other local MPs.

"Making the sorts of savings required to bring about a break-even point will be difficult, but having explored the options in some depth with Peter Coles and Glynn Jones, I feel reasonably sure that there are savings to be made that will largely limit the impact on front-line services. Even so, up to 325 jobs will go, 7% of the workforce, though I am assured that this is likely to be very largely through natural wastage rather than redundancies, and that the jobs in question will predominantly be managerial ones rather than front-line health professionals.

"If, however, the Trust were required to make up the accumulated deficit as well, that in my view would seriously affect the services the Trust's hospitals can offer, and have a knock-on effect for the rest of the health economy locally, such as the Primary Care Trusts.

"I am therefore calling on the government to wipe off the 21.3m of overspend, in return for the introduction of measures to bring the Trust's finances to break even. Generally speaking, it does seem rather perverse to see our local NHS in such tight financial difficulties at a time when there has never been more public money being invested in the NHS. People are entitled to ask what has happened to it all."

'¢ Norman also secured a pledge from the Chief Executive that the Trust remained committed to the Lewes Victoria Hospital, and did not intend to reduce its use of the hospital.