HOSPITAL bosses have been given the go-ahead to remain £6.4m in the red after negotiations with health chiefs.

In May, directors from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, feared they would have to make extra savings of £6.4m on top of their original £11.4m savings plan for the financial year.

Government targets say all hospitals must break even by the end of the financial year in March.

But after negotiations between the hospital and London's Strategic Health Authority, it has been agreed the hospital will be allowed to carry over the £6.4m debt providing it manages to stick to its savings plan.

The cash saving must still be made but it means the extra money will not have to be recovered until the following financial year, meaning fewer cuts will have to be made to services.

At a board meeting on July 6, hospital chief executive John Pelly said: "We're doing well with the saving programme but there's still a gap of about £1m and we will deal with it as the year progresses."

Redundancies, which bosses first feared would reach 100, will now be between 20 and 30 and be made up of management roles, administration posts and senior nursing staff.

Mr Pelly added: "This has been a difficult process for all those involved.

"We've been honest in our consultation and have conducted this exercise as well as we could."