CASH-strapped health chiefs are being forced to reduce hospital administration costs as a way of coping with another financially tight year.

David Chew, chief executive of Burnley NHS trust, has told employees that more savings will have to be made in 1996/7.

Writing in the trust's magazine, Communication Matters, he says: "Money is tight and we are in for a difficult year. What it means is we will have to be even more careful with the money we spend."

A spokesman for the trust told the Citizen that the savings were part of an on-going policy of making sure a limited amount of cash was spent efficiently.

He said: "The bucket is not bottomless, so to speak. There are no surplus funds. We have constantly to match resources and money with the services we have to provide."

Mr Chew says he does not want any "unnecessary" reduction in wages, which account for 72 per cent of the trust's income.

He says: "The remaining 28 per cent is spent on non-staff costs - equipment, buildings, maintenance, capital etc - and it is expenditure that is already monitored very carefully.

"I have recently asked the director of facilities to look at how we can reduce our administration costs. Full reviews have been implemented into printing and stationary, photocopying and postal costs and reports on how these are being administered will be presented shortly.

"The services we use are, I believe, being managed well and this was recognised recently when our estates department received an award for energy efficiency.

"Despite all these efforts being made by individual departments we still have to reduce our overheads further."

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