BERKSHIRE’S NHS body could miss out on more than £12 million of funding after it emerged the authority is struggling to balance its books.

The Foundation Trust looking after the Royal Berkshire Hospital and other care services in the county is set to post a deficit of £7.4 million.

This means it will not qualify for funding worth £12.2m, which could have been used to buy new equipment and develop buildings and estates to host care services in.

Steve McManus, Chief Executive of Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT), said: “This is something we are taking seriously and need to address.

“We are looking to re-balance this over the next months and there has been a huge amount of hard work from colleagues over the last three months to really understand the pressures we may be encountering over the next year in terms of our capacity versus our activity demands we have coming through, the cost of improving services and maintaining that high level of quality, and the standards we expect.

“We know we need to continue to meet targeted investment to maintain quality standards. We have recognised it’s unlikely we will be in a position to meet control targets set by NHSI (NHS Improvement).

“There is a consequence potentially which is our ability to access the provider sustainability that’s coming through from the commercial allocations this year and that amounts to around £12 million for this organisation and this system.”

The authority had already realised it would deliver a deficit of at least £3.8 million in the current financial year, and the final position of the trust will be confirmed by April 4.

Work has been underway since November 2018 to set RBFT’s budget for 2019/2020 and up to £14 million needs to be cut in the next two years in order for the authority to balance its books.

Figures show Berkshire’s NHS body spent £11 million more on pay in the current year, totalling more than £221 million.

Directors discussed the trust’s financial position at a meeting on Wednesday, March 27.