POOLE Hospital NHS Trust looks set to come under scrutiny by the British Medical Association (BMA) as it tries to find out why the organisation is grappling with a £5.8m deficit.

The move comes after the BMA's consultants' committee revealed it had received details of financial crises at many UK hospitals.

We reported last month how Poole bosses had not ruled out ward closures and had already told student nurses they were unlikely to land jobs after graduation.

They said problems had arisen because the hospital did not receive the additional government funding it had in previous years.

Job losses and department closures could spread throughout the UK as more trusts report financial losses.

The BMA wants to complete a survey of all UK NHS trusts and has written to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt expressing the concerns of medical staff.

Some 75 per cent of trusts balanced the books say the Healthcare Commission's star ratings published in July but the consultants' committee is worried patients will suffer if hospitals have to make cutbacks over cash problems.

Committee chairman Dr Paul Miller said: "Serious questions have to be asked about where the increased NHS resources are going and whether value for money is being achieved from the funding preferentially ploughed into contracts for clinical services with private sector providers. The cash shortages in the NHS contrast dramatically with the generous terms negotiated with companies such as Netcare UK and Alliance Medical."

He added: "We are deeply concerned that managers running scared for their jobs are making knee-jerk decisions in response to funding problems."

A health department spokesman said the NHS budget had doubled since 1997 and denied there was a "cash shortage".

First published: August 29