HOSPITAL chiefs will call on the government for a further £30 million cash boost in a bid to improve its busy A&E as well as its IT systems.

The Royal Bolton has to make £22.2 million of cuts by the end of this financial year — but finance bosses insist they have improved the trust’s credit rating.

Only when hospital directors prove they can hit their savings target, will they be considered for the £30 million from the Department of Health.

In August, 2012, a damning report by watchdog Monitor put the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust at the highest risk levels for financial failings and breaching their national contract as an NHS provider.

But bosses are hoping to come out of “breach” with Monitor by Christmas after a bringing the hospital’s spending under control.

If Monitor deems the trust financially viable, they will support their bid for the £30 million — which will either be given as a grant or loan.

Simon Worthington, director of finance at the trust, said bosses would do everything they could to protect frontline services.

Mr Worthington said: “As things stand at present we believe we will be able to deliver that scale of savings.

“Just to re-enforce the importance, the one thing that is preventing us being taken out of breach is the demonstration that we can deliver this financial plan.

“All other issues have been ticked off. If we deliver this year’s financial plan we will be taken out of breach.”

Further hospital bed closures will save £1.9 million.

The rest of the savings will come from corporate functions, estate savings, contract procurement and from adult and acute services.

It is not yet clear if the cuts — which are affecting all foundation trusts — will result in job losses.

Over the next five years, the Royal Bolton must save £62.5 million.

An extra £5.4 million will need to be saved from bed reductions between 2015 to 2018 — reaping £7.3 million in savings over four years.

Mr Worthington, speaking at the Health Scrutiny Meeting on Tuesday, added: “The way it works is we have to provide the right level of nursing per bed, so the only way to making the saving from nursing is by having less beds.

“We can only do that if we work to reduce the length of stay.”

“We are doing everything we can to protect front line services.

“People might look at this and ask if it is in anyway achievable, and say ‘they must be insane’.

“But over the last two years we have saved £40 million.”