A warning was issued today about mounting cash problems facing hospitals in Bradford.

A meeting of hospital chiefs who run Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital was today expected to examine the worsening financial position due to hit services in coming months.

Already major cost savings are being found in the hospitals.

But the situation is expected to further worsen due to reductions in spending by GP fundholders who will have had budgets slashed by £1 million in the coming 12 months.

A range of cost-saving measures are being drawn up including cuts in operations which would lead to lengthening waiting lists for patients of fundholding GPs, rising to about a year in some cases.

Other measures could include reducing overtime, employing fewer agency staff and reducing staff through natural wastage, although there are not expected to be compulsory redundancies.

The problem is further compounded by an instruction from ministers to achieve a balanced budget prompting hospital chiefs to call for urgent talks with regional NHS bosses to discuss the situation.

In a report to today's meeting, David Jackson, chief executive of Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, said the financial position facing the hospitals was worrying.

There were still significant uncertainties but it was clear there would be considerably less money available to spend in the coming year on services at the hospitals.

"Significant cost reductions within the trust are inevitable," he said.

Finance director Paul Earp said talks were under way to identify areas where costs could be reduced.

He added: "However the current assessment is that even a cost reduction programme of 2.5 per cent will be insufficient to allow the trust to produce a balanced financial plan."

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