South London Healthcare Faces Liquidation

An NHS hospital may be declared bust.

South London Healthcare, a merger of three hospital trusts, is the first provider of its kind to be formally warned after it accrued £69m in debt at the start of the financial year.

The health secretary has stated that told an administrator could be brought in within weeks, the trust could be dissolved and some services closed.

An official spokesman for the trust said: reassured patients that services would be run "as normal" until a decision was made.

A spokesman for South London Healthcare said talks have commenced with the Department of Health and NHS London.

"Our priority, and that of others involved, is to make sure that our long-standing and well-known financial issues are resolved," he said.

"Our staff have worked hard for patients and in spite of significant financial issues, we are extremely proud that we now have among the lowest mortality and infection rates in the country.

"We expect these discussions to come to a conclusion in the second week in July, when a decision will be taken by the secretary of state. In the meantime, we can reassure local patients and the public that our staff will continue to provide services as normal."

(GK)