Health bosses say major changes are needed after it was revealed that Macclesfield Hospital is £24m in debt.

East Cheshire NHS Trust (ECNT), which runs the hospital, had a massive budget black hole caused by its failure to make enough efficiency savings and soaring agency staff costs.

Chief executive John Wilbraham described the financial situation as the worst he had experienced during his 14 year tenure, saying that the organisation is ‘unsustainable’ in its current form.

However he has ruled out job cuts, the closure of key services like the A&E department and mergers with other hospital trusts.

The trust’s recovery plan includes £4m in efficiency savings and focusing on the Caring Together, on ongoing programme with the council and GPs to deliver a new system of health and social care across eastern Cheshire.

Mr Wilbraham said: “In my 14 years these are the toughest financial conditions I have experienced.

“For several years we have been making efficiency savings, but now the trust’s board has concluded that the organisation in its current form is not sustainable.

“Just being more efficient is not enough. We must work more with partners to change the way we run.”

ECNT is not alone with its struggle. There are similar large budget deficits in other hospital trusts in the region and only last month East Cheshire Clinical Commissioning group (CCG), which funds local healthcare in Macclesfield, revealed its own £9.7m budget black hole.

Macclesfield MP David Rutley said his Conservative Government is working with hospitals with financial problems.

He said: “Macclesfield like other hospitals across the country are tackling deficits and working to determined the best way of running services for the ageing populations and their needs.

“Progress has been made in better integrating hospital, community and GP services but there is more to be done to bring together health and social services.”

But Labour councillors on Cheshire East Council including Coun Laura Jeuda, Macclesfield South, blamed privatisation, systematic underfunding and unrealistic targets.

Nick Mannion, for Macclesfield West and Ivy ward, said: “Deeply flawed changes are forcing the NHS to operate as business units rather than as a public service.

“ It has made what was already a very challenging situation in East Cheshire, into one that has potentially disastrous consequences for integrated local health services.”

The £24m deficit explained:

Last year health bosses at East Cheshire NHS Trust had a budget of £172m to run two hospitals, Macclesfield and Congleton, and pay its 3,000 staff who look after an area of almost half a million people.

The plan was to save £7m by cost-cutting, but additional spending pressures on services prevented that from happening and it actually ended up spending £5m more on clinical supplies and services.

The trust also received £12m less income after its lost a number of key contracts including running the region’s dental services.

But the single biggest ongoing problem is its spending on extra staff to plug job vacancies, including the current 40 unfilled nursing posts.

Last year the trust spent £7m more on staff than it had planned, including £3.3m on agency staff and a further £3.7m on bank and locum staff.

Nationally there is a NHS nurse staffing crisis. The fierce competition has forced ECNT to continually look to recruit globally.

But ECNT is also hoping to train health care assistants to become nurses and plug those vacancies.