Mid and South Essex NHS Trust is getting 'targeted support' after its deficit cutting plan drifts by millions.

The trust's 2024/25 financial plan is to have a £84.6m deficit, as well as a £91.5m improving value target – the amount that has been identified to be saved.

However at the end of June, the deficit was £40.4m against a plan of £32m. 

The trust has said this deficit position is because some of the Improving Value programmes are not being delivered yet, but are expected to later in the year.

It has also admitted that while spending on bank and agency staff fell between June and July, it is not falling quickly enough.

To address the deficit, the trust has been reducing patient length of stay, increasing its scrutiny of discretionary spending, transforming outpatient services, ensuring activity is recorded correctly and ensuring that staffing is managed effectively and reducing the need for bank and agency cover.

A large proportion is likely to come from reducing headcount and managing vacancies – the financially-stretched NHS trust that looks after Basildon, Broomfield and Southend hospitals, is reviewing where it could cut dozens of jobs.

This has led to accusations that hospital bosses have been using "cloak and dagger" tactics and keeping staff "in the dark" over a "voluntary severance scheme".

The Save Southend NHS campaign group has slammed the "secrecy" of senior management at the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust after Unison claimed hospital bosses "want to let 150 staff go".

The Mid and South Essex NHS Trust has insisted the severance scheme is "purely voluntary" and will help it "redesign teams" and use "resources efficiently".

Speaking at a health scrutiny meeting on September 5, Medical Director Laura Harding said: "We have a big amount of money that we need to save, but at the end of June we were already off plan by £8m.

"Obviously the financial improvement plan is that sort of hockey stick thing where the full year effect won't be seen until the end of the year.

"Although we have got a lot of schemes, a lot of them are not going to be delivered at the beginning, they deliver more towards the end.

"The sort of predicted savings are still on track but we are slightly adrift.

"And obviously that has meant that we are getting some targeted support from NHS England as a trust which we will start to feel the effects of that over the coming months."

She added: "Taking money out safely in itself requires a bit of focused resource so having that brought in to help us do that will be useful.

"We are trying to do so many things. It's really helpful just to have people just focusing on that recovery."