NHS set to record £983m surplus

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The Prime Minister and Health Secretary made a joint appearance in south London as figures for the first quarter of 2007/08 showed the NHS was in the black with a £983 million surplus.

But the figures also revealed that 22 NHS trusts are in deficit - with some seeing their financial position get worse and others slipping into the red for the first time.

Thirteen out of 22 trusts listed are getting worse, including Leicestershire County and Rutland Primary Care Trust (PCT), which is now expecting a £22.7 million deficit at the end of 2007/08, up from £17.8 million the previous year.

The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and the East of England Strategic Health Authority are two organisations expecting to slip into the red for the first time.

A few others, including Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust, managed to improve their positions after former health secretary Patricia Hewitt made a big push to get the NHS into balance last year, but are now slipping back down again. In 2005/06, the trust recorded a £15.8 million deficit, which was cut to £8.2 million last year but is now expected to rise to £14 million in 2007/08.

The overall figures showed the NHS was forecasting a £983 million surplus at the end of the financial year, compared with the £510 million surplus recorded last year.

The surplus represents 1.3% of the NHS budget and ministers pledged to plough the cash back into patient care. The total gross deficit of the NHS - the total amount owed before surpluses are used to offset it - is expected to be £204 million, down from £911 million in 2006/07.

Mr Brown said the figures will mean the Government is now able to put money into other areas of the NHS. He said: "We are talking about more access, more money to tackle hospital infections and measures to ensure people get the best personal care."

He continued: "People know that the health service has 80,000 more nurses and 20,000 more doctors and we are building more hospitals. Some have already been completed. People do understand the health service is getting better but it is going to get even better."