Worthing Hospital in red despite job axe

But the hospital trust remains 6million in the red despite a range of cost-cutting measures including asking patients to bring in their own drugs.

Last April, the hospital trust announced it was spending 1million a month more than it could afford.

A year on, the hospital's chief executive, Stephen Cass, said the trust was on track to wipe out the deficit by the end of next year.

He said: "Staff have worked really hard to continue to provide excellent patient care while having to look for financial savings which will bring the trust back into balance.

"As we move towards public consultation on the future shape of health care in West Sussex, I believe our achievements demonstrate that we are a credible, well-run organisation which has a positive future in providing high-level healthcare to future generations."

The trust has cut three per cent of its 3,500 staff in the past year through not replacing those who have left.

Uncertainty about the hospital's future and job losses has led some nurses to complain that morale is at rock bottom.

MP Tim Loughton said he was concerned that job losses and department closures would result in a "death by a thousand blows".

The hospital could lose its accident and emergency and maternity units as part of a shake-up of major hospital departments in Sussex.

Mr Loughton said: "My fear is this plays into the hands of the Primary Care Trust reconfiguration which is trying to downgrade the hospital by stealth.

"The hospital is one of the most cost-efficient in the country and is doing a good job.

"But the staff are caught between a rock and a hard place because the government has got its sums wrong and if they don't meet government targets they are penalised.

"We need to make sure that this does not have an impact on long-term quality and variety of services provided at the hospital."