NHS trust saves £55m from budget

A strategic health authority has underspent by £55m against its budget for the year 2007/08 - after making a saving of £80m in the previous year.

The East Midlands Strategic Health Authority NHS Trust was set up in July 2006 and its first period of operation covered nine months.

It has published its first report for a full year's budget of £398m.

It received £339m from parliament and took £4m from reserves to meet overall costs of £343m, underspending by £55m.

Costs during the year increased to £343m from £290m spent in the previous nine-month period and £40m of this resulted from the transfer of student grants expenditure into the authority's budget from Derby Hospital.

Other increased costs included £6m for education, training premises at Leicester for medical students and staff and provision for inflation, a board meeting at Nottingham heard.

The strategic health authority covers Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.