Boss probes how hospital 'lost' £10million debt

Hospital staff are being investigated after failing to report that a black hole of debt had grown by £10million.

New bosses at the bankrupt Bromley Hospitals trust are interrogating workers after staff said the deficit was £13million instead of £23million.

The trust also owes £87 million in loans and is slashing beds and jobs to claw back money.

Antony Sumara has ordered the inquiry to find out how bosses lost control of their cash. "We need to make sure it doesn't happen in the future," he said.

A National Audit Office report has criticised a "core" of trusts for dragging down NHS finances.

London has at least seven of 17 trusts on a government hit-list for poor finances.

Auditor general Sir John Bourn said that more than one in four primary care trusts, responsible for 80 per cent of the £90billion NHS budget, have deficits and he warned ministers against a "boom and bust" approach to finance.