FINANCE chiefs at the Royal Bolton Hospital say there will no longer be a surplus in funds at the end of March because of the A&E crisis — and instead are hoping the trust will ‘break even’.

Top bosses at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust had forecast that the organisation would end the financial year with a planned surplus of £1.6 million, but they have had to reassess that after incurring fines for missing A&E targets and losing income from cancelled operations.

It follows a surge in admissions through the accident and emergency department as more frail and elderly patients were admitted.

A ‘major incident’ was called in January when managers in accident and emergency felt that demand on hospital services had reached an unsafe level, both for patients and staff.

The Bolton News reported how the trust will lose at least £800,000 — £185,000 for missing four-hour waiting targets for A&E in 2014 and £600,000 for cancelling operations in November and December — even before the A&E reached breaking point in January.

More money was also spent drafting in agency staff to support clinicians in struggling wards.

Simon Worthington, director of finance, explained that the trust has also been tasked with making savings as part of an ‘improvement programme’, but increased demand on its services was making this task more difficult.

“We are spending more money than there is funding for”, he told members of the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust board of directors.

“It is the first time as a director I have had to face a board and say we are not going to deliver a plan.

“It is the case that when you look around the country, lots of people are a lot worse off than we are.”

Discussions are underway with the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group, whose job it is to administer the fine, to see whether it will be invested back into the hospital but there are no assurances.

David Wakefield, chairman of the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said the organisation had done the right thing over the challenging winter months — but was now counting the cost.

“I think we have done the right thing by incurring these costs... and I still think breaking even would be good”, he said.

“More people turn up, we get fined, and the money we are penalised – and we don’t get it back.

“If you closed the door and didn’t treat people, what message would that send?

“It is quite perverse.”