PCT is back in the black

In less then a year the PCT has gone from facing a potential £16 million deficit to having a small surplus. In what is being seen as a major success story for the trust, bosses have confirmed that they are now planning to invest £2.2 million this year and £4.6 million next year to give health services a much needed boost.

It is not yet known where the cash will be spent. The trust, which only came into existence in October 2006, inheriting a cash blackhole from its smaller predecessors.

The extra cash adds up to just a fraction of the PCT's £700-million-a-year budget, but being able to turn a deficit into a surplus is an achievement for the organisation.

The extra investment has come about after the PCT was ordered by the Government to hold back one per cent of its budget as a contingency but bosses at the trust have now been given permission to spend some of it on services for the public.

Although the trust, which is responsible for the health of around 600,000 people across Cannock, Lichfield and Stafford, is predicting a surplus at the end of the next financial year, bosses have stressed there are still risks that could put the trust back in the red.

Helen Simpson, head of finance at South Staffordshire PCT, said: "Our surplus is 0.9 per cent of our total budget so it is quite small really but we are looking to invest £2.2 million this year and £4.6 million next year on services but there are a number of risks that we still have to manage."

Chairman of the PCT Alex Fox said: "It is an achievement that we have worked so hard to bring the four PCTs together and form a big organisation that is now working within its budget. If you make a surplus in life you have lots of friends and if you make a deficit you have lots of enemies.

"We we can now consider developing some of our services, which is good news."