More cash than expected at Vic Hospital trust

Where neighbouring trust Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, which runs Preston and Chorley hospitals, ended the year almost £30m deeper into the red than predicted, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals recorded a surplus of £5.7m.

It has expected to have around £3.7m left over.

Chief executive Wendy Swift (inset) said: “This was only achieved thanks to the hard work of all our staff throughout the year, who worked tirelessly to deliver high quality care.

“We would also like to thank our partners across the Fylde coast who have supported us throughout the year. The financial position helped us make investments in areas such as redesigning the emergency department, providing additional funding for stroke services, delivering our new state of the art decontamination unit and increasing our staffing numbers in key clinical areas.”

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals ended the year £37m in the red, above a predicted £7.766m.

The North West Ambulance Service had a surplus £5.612m – up by £3.46m above a projected £2.152m.

And Lancashire Care, which runs The Harbour psychiatric unit in Preston New Road, Marton, posted a surplus of £4,843,000.

The trust was also named as the country’s best-performer for referral treatment times, with 99.22 per cent of patients being seen within the target time of 18 weeks.