COSTLY drugs are pushing Bolton's hospital bosses into the red.

Just two months into the new financial year, Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust already has a deficit of £24,000.

Mr Graham Hewitt, director of finance with Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "While this isn't an overly serious situation, it does give us some cause for concern."

Despite a cash injection of £450,000 into the 1999/2000 pharmacy budget, there are still problems.

In his report presented to Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust board, Mr Hewitt said there were certain specialities within the trust where the drugs being prescribed were proving costly.

These include Genito Urinary Medicine where anti viral drugs - in particular triple therapy for Aids patients - were putting pressure on the existing budget.

Within the medicine and elderly directorate, the introduction of one drug had been more expensive than the one it replaced. But Mr David Spurr, the medical director of the trust, said the use of this particular drug meant patients were being discharged within 36 hours of admission.

Previously it had taken between seven and 10 days to stabilise patients and discharge them.

An increased use of the drug Litanoprest in the ophthalmology unit is currently being investigated.

And investigations into the use of an anti-coagulant drug has resulted in it being pulled after the pharmacy intervened.

Mr Hewitt explained: "Because new drugs are constantly being introduced, the drugs budget in general is nearly always under pressure.

"At present between three and four per cent, that is between £2 million and £3 million, is spent on drugs each year, what I am saying is we need to keep careful checks on this budget as with others."

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