THE district's Primary Care Trust is facing up to a massive end of year overspend with millions of pounds in savings now necessary.

NHS West Essex is currently £1.864million over-budget with overspends on services provided by Whipps Cross and Princess Alexandra Hospitals this year potentially amounting to £11million.

The PCT is also facing a multi-million pound budget cut from central Government and at its recent board meeting announced a potential 30 per cent cut in management costs and an unspecified merger of services.

PCT chairman Alan Tobias said: “There are no reasons for replicating the same services five times over.”

The PCT has drawn up a Financial Recovery Plan to cope with its situation with measures including planned underspending in as yet unnamed departments..

NHS West Essex Director of Finance Dean Westcott said: “For example we want to get the best from the medicine doctors prescribe so local doctors and pharmacists have worked together to look at the medicines prescribed to see if we can offer the same benefit at better value.”

The PCT has blamed a potential £6million overspend on services from Whipps Cross on increases in rehabilitation costs, diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments.

Mr Westcott said: “Whilst the PCT are convinced the figures from Whipps Cross are not correct, based on a history of activity level, we have not yet been able to agree with Whipps Cross where the errors are and why.”

Services from Princess Alexandra are predicted to results in an overspend of £5million although the PCT disputes that figure.

Mr Westcott said: “Mitigation against such activity increases include evaluating the data and ensuring that patients are seen in the right place, which is not always the hospital and can often be their GP surgery.”

Figures released to the Guardian show the PCT has spent £70,000 on treating swine flu, not including money it received from the Government.

Unison West Essex branch chairman Terry Ward said: “I do know there's a deficit and there's various ways of cutting that back. I think everyone knows that public services are going to face contraction over the coming years.”