A HOSPITAL trust which is set to plunge £420,000 into the red is seeking an urgent meeting with health officials to see if any extra cash is available.

At the board meeting of Burnley Health Care NHS Trust, the serious position facing the trust was outlined by financial director David Meakin.

And chief executive David Chew said if no money was forthcoming to meet the millennium winter pressures the trust would be in a "knife-edge" situation. Mr Meakin said: "In my view we could get to the end of the financial year with an overspend of £420,000.

"We have to make sure we use our resources as efficiently as possible and we need to talk to East Lancashire Health Authority about what are the key issues of health provision. We will be having a meeting to find out what targets they want us to go for and discuss if there is any extra funding available."

The trust was overspent by nearly £690,000 at the end of July - £104,000 more than the figure for the previous month - despite an action plan to curb overspending.

Chief executive David Chew called on out-patients to help the situation by turning up for appointments. He said: "14 per cent of out-patients fail to turn up for appointments.

"If they told us well in advance then we could at least allocate their slot to someone else. If you can't make it let us know in plenty of time."

Chairman Brian Foster said: "I regard the financial position as very serious. We will be watching much more closely to try to ensure that if any areas need intervention it will take place."

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