LIKE many public sector organisations, the sums don’t add up at East Lancashire’s hospitals trust at the moment.

After making £30million of savings over the past two years, they are now looking to shave off another £16million from the budget.

Despite NHS funding being ringfenced by the government, increasing costs and demand for healthcare have forced every NHS hospital to find huge savings.

And ‘innovation’ is now needed from managers to balance the books.

There are still a lot of questions to answer at the hospital. Last summer’s Keogh report was damning, leaving the trust in special measures.

And bosses now face an anxious wait for the results of a key Care Quality Commission inspection which saw a team of 50 carry out further checks. The verdict is expected to be delivered next month.

No-one has ever doubted the dedication of 99 per cent of the staff who do a great job. It is management practices that have been fatally flawed.

But this is, of course, a very unwelcome cut and could have dire repercussions for patients. It will also do nothing to help the trust climb out of special measures.