NHS chiefs have been told they must find £142m worth of savings so the health economy for Lancashire and South Cumbria can break even .
Under-fire health bosses have been receiving support from NHS England in a bid to balance the books after facing a £530m efficiencies drive for the last financial year.
Members of Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board have been told, from the outset, the organisation and their provider trusts, like East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, must contribute to a £142.7m savings plans for 2025-26.
In a report Stephen Downs, the ICB's acting chief financial officer, outlines how, to date, £69.8m of such saving schemes have been identified by the board.
A further £72.9m either remains unidentified (£58.7m) or only exists as an opportunity to save so far (£14.2m).
Within draft savings plans around £700,000 is expected to come from an acute services review across the neighbouring areas. Another £7.3m should be generated by looking at community services.
But the major savings appear to be in cutting the 'all age continuing care' budget (£32m) and prescribing costs (£42m).
Mr Downs adds in his report, being considered by the ICB board tomorrow, Thursday: "The ICB is statutorily responsible for ensuring its expenditure does not exceed the budget allocated from NHSE (NHS England) for 2025/26 and for ensuring expenditure on administrative running costs is within the specified allowance."
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Former ICB chief exec Kevin Lavery left the organisation at the end of April and Sam Proffitt, the ICB deputy chief exec and chief finance officer, has taken over his position on an interim basis.
Elsewhere board members have been told that the ICB must reduce running and programme costs going forward, as part of NHSE national proposals.
The acting chief exec says this equates to a 47 per cent reduction for the Lancs and South Cumbria ICB, or around £35m.
An organisation review is taking place in the first quarter of this financial year, before this is implemented in the second quarter, leaving a slimmed-down ICB to emerge in the third quarter.
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