HOSPITAL bosses have been forced to borrow almost £1million to balance the books.

Cash-strapped Royal Bolton Hospital chiefs have taken a loan of £866,000 from the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority.

Hospital staff now fear there could be more cuts and Bolton East MP, Brian Iddon, has offered to take the hospital's financial case to the Secretary of State for Health in a bid to secure more funding.

In June hospital bosses announced major cuts in a bid to wipe out a potential £7.5 million annual overspend.

And while they have managed to make savings of £1.4 million since the start of the financial year in April, the hospital is still in the red, having overspent by a further £581,000.

Departments that have not yet managed to reduce spending are being urged to identify and implement savings.

Hospital finance director, Colin Dunn, speaking to the hospital trust board, reassured members the trust would be back in the black by the end of this financial year.

He said: "We knew this would be a nail-biting financial year, but by the end of the year we will deliver this year's target.

"I am concerned there have been some slips in the plan, but the savings will be made by the end of the year."

Politicians and unions are now calling for specific answers about how the situation can be rectified.

Chris Parkes, regional officer for UNISON, which represents hospital staff, said: "We were consulted last week and advised there was a shortfall, but we have been promised we will be consulted if there are to be any more cuts.

"This position shows there just aren't the savings to be made to achieve the plans and we are concerned the next step will be cuts. We will fight to retain services."

Tory health spokesman Cllr Andy Morgan, who was at the trust board meeting, added: "What the hospital is doing is the equivalent of a bridging loan and putting off the inevitable.

"This money will have to be paid back and one would assume frontline services will have to make further cuts next year.

"My concern is that those departments who have met the targets will be expected to pick up the slack for those that haven't.

"The £1.4 million savings is exceptional, but has only been done with the co-operation and hard work of staff."

The main areas of overspend have been medicine and elderly care, surgical specialties, general surgery, anaesthetics, maternity and pathology.

Cost-cutting measures included axing 155 jobs, closing a children's ward and 26 elderly beds.

Plans to build a multi-storey car park to ease the chaos at the Farnworth site were also scrapped.