A £6.5 MILLION support package will help plug a huge black hole in the finances of Shropshire’s two hospitals.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal, was predicted to end the current financial year with a £10.56 million deficit.

But health chiefs have been told a bid for cash to the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) should be successful – and could help them break even by the end of the financial year.

The trust has also announced a number of cost-cutting measures, including plans to reduce capacity through the closure of four wards.

A spokesman for the trust said today: “The current economic climate presents financial challenges for the NHS as a whole.

“As an organisation we are currently going through a process of transitional and transformational change.

“We have requested some financial support to help us do this, which will enable us to finish the year in financial balance.

“We must cope with all of the service and financial pressures we have while at the same time accepting that the amount of money we receive for everything we do declines.”

A report to the trust’s board says it has overspent by £1.78 million – £189,000 more than planned, which it says is down to increased use of agency staff.

The report says: “At the previous board meeting the trust were presented with a forecast deficit for the year amounting to £10.556 million.

“As stated previously, the combination of actions being taken within the trust and non-recurrent financial support enables the trust to produce a revised forecast for the year, which shows a balanced income and expenditure position for the year.

“That said, it is clear that within the financial position of the trust there exist substantial risks to the delivery of the income and expenditure position.”

Implementation of schemes developed through an independent review by PriceWaterhouseCoopers will reduce costs by £250,000 in the current financial year, increasing to £1 million in the future.

By Russell Roberts