STAFF redundancies and service cuts are on the cards to make up a gaping £8m cash shortfall at South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust.

Health chiefs announced yesterday that they are facing the massive funding gap this financial year after the extra £24.5m they thought they were getting from the Government was slashed by £13m to help pay off the national NHS debt. But their planned extra spending for this year had already reached £19.4m - meaning there is a £7.9m overspend that now needs to be saved.

The move could affect a number of the services that the PCT is in charge of, including out-of-hours care, GP contracts, health clinics and community hospitals.

Acting chief executive Paul Bates said this was not going to be an easy task and that money would have to be found by implementing a number of measures, including avoiding unnecessary developments and putting a virtual freeze on staff recruitment. It may even lead to compulsory redundancies being made.

"It may reduce the choice of services, the locations where they are available, and the level of care and quality. But we are not rushing into wielding great big axes because we need to consider what our position will be in 2007-2008, too."

He said that this was the most difficult time he'd ever had to go through in the National Health Service.

"But this is about getting the whole of the NHS into financial balance and making sure that we actively put ourselves in a stable position," he added.

Following a private meeting between MPs and PCT bosses, Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff blamed the decision to `top-slice' £13m on government ministers who were panicking about overspending and desperately trying to solve problems created by themselves.

"Yes, NHS spending has gone up, but overwhelmingly it has gone into increased costs, not improved services," he said. "So it is that instead of developing new services locally, we are looking at the serious possibility of job cuts."