SAVAGE cuts of almost £11m could be painful for staff but will not harm patients, say hospital chiefs.

A financial rescue package will be drawn up over the next 10 weeks to tackle the deficit at Halton and Warrington Hospitals, as the Government challenges all NHS trusts to break even.

"The staff involved will undoubtedly get uncomfortable," said newly-appointed chief executive Catherine Beardshaw in an exclusive interview.

"We aim to avoid compulsory redundancies but we will have a smaller workforce at the end of this.

"We have to save a lot of money over the next 18 months."

She briefed staff and management teams this week after the trust board agreed to implement a radical recovery programme.

She said: "We will be exploring a range of options with our staff to ensure not only that we balance our books but also that we create a stronger financial basis for the future.

"Improving our efficiency will also improve patient care and their experience of hospital services."

Lessons could be learned, she said, from the privately funded £30m orthopaedic treatment centre beside Halton Hospital, where a one-stop shop offers patients fast-track diagnostic services and day surgery.

The way all services are delivered, she said, would be painstakingly scrutinised.

"We will be considering how we can reduce the number of days patients unnecessarily spend in a hospital bed prior to their safe discharge home.

"We will be looking at how we provide services."

Runcorn MP Mike Hall, said: "This hospital trust has got to start living within its means and has got to deliver this time. Various chief executives have promised various things in the past.

"We've got to make sure we protect services.

"We've got to have a robust, efficient system. They've got to be honest with the staff, say this is what we are proposing and this is the impact.

"We can't have the previous style of management where staff were kept poorly informed."

Unions were unavailable for comment as the World went to press.