§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the forecast outcome for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust is for 2003–04; what assessment has been made of its level of financial risk; and what loans it has(a) taken and (b) applied for from the NHS Bank in 2003–04. [151239]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 27 January 2004]: Audited information on the financial position of national health service trusts will be published in their individual annual accounts. These data will be available centrally in the autumn.
At the Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) Board meeting on 20 January 2004, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust reported a deficit of £1.7 million as at the end of December 2003. The SHA has assessed the financial risk and is forecasting a break even position for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust at the end of the financial year 2003–04.
The SHA has not made an application to the NHS Bank on behalf of the trust in 2003–04.