A HEALTH trust which needs to claw back £14 million this financial year says it is on track to achieve the savings.

NHS Bolton, the primary care trust which oversees local health services, was forced to make cuts because of extra financial pressures. They included a rise in the people being treated in hospital — due to a cut in waiting lists — while prices for things such as specialist services and medicines also increased.

The organisation revealed early last year that it needed to save £13.9 million by the end of this month to balance its £460 million budget.

Now finance chiefs say they expect to hit the target.

Ismail Hafeji, finance director at NHS Bolton, said: “We are on track. At the next board meeting, I hope to confirm we will hit the target with a £1 million surplus.”

Measures including cuts to staffing, car parking costs and IT expenditure have helped make the savings, as well as using cheaper drugs for prescriptions.