HEALTH chiefs today announced a package of measures to ease a budget crisis and avoid making service cuts.

They hope to trim £2.5m off a potential £4.8m deficit with a series of cutbacks in non-medical departments that should not affect how we are treated by the health service.

Overtime payments and agency staff are just two areas where cutbacks have been earmarked - although bosses have insisted they will keep a safe level of staffing on wards.

And they have announced a spending freeze on some non-medical equipment and furniture until next April at the earliest - unless they are needed for health and safety reasons.

A jobs freeze has been declared on several non-medical departments such as finance and personnel too. They will not be allowed to take on additional staff until next April.

The trust's financial problems stem from an overspend of around £1m which the Burnley side of the trust ended up with last year.

The knock-on effect of that has been for health chiefs to estimate they are heading for a near-£5m deficit in the coming year. Now they are taking action to halt that slide.

East Lancashire Hospital's Trust chief executive John Thomas said: "After discussions with primary care trusts, the potential overspend has been reduced from £4.8m to £2.3m.

"Discussions are continuing both with the PCTs and the strategic health authority and I will report the most up-to-date position to the board later today."

"These measures are designed to reduce expenditure without compromising the level or safety of patient care provided by the trust."

As well as the jobs freeze and halt on spending cash in non-medical areas, cutbacks on staff training have also been announced unless it is essential for professional development, or mandatory.

Mr Thomas and finance director David Meakin are also in discussion with regional health chiefs on how to manage the remaining £2.3m forecasted overspend in the £226m overall budget.

They are asking for permission to transfer £2m the trust has set aside for capital projects, buildings and equipment, to the annual running costs budget.

If they are successful, it would leave them the rest of the financial year, up to March 2004, to work out how to wipe out the remaining £300,000 and achieve a balanced budget.