SERVICES at hospitals and clinics could be slashed in a last-ditch bid by health bosses to plug a financial gap of £1 million, it was revealed today.

A series of top-level meetings will take place over the next six weeks between East Lancashire Health Authority, hospital chiefs in Blackburn and Burnley and GPs to try and cure the cash crisis.

If the £1 million shortfall is not found, health chiefs have warned that spending on treatment and future investment may have to be reduced.

Areas where development may be shelved in order for the books to be balanced include mental health and cancer services.

The shock revelations are contained in an East Lancashire Health Authority report on the financial position.

It shows there is a £1 million gap in the funds that local NHS trusts require and the resources available to East Lancashire Heath Authority, which purchases health care for the district's 500,000 residents.

The health authority has already managed to reduce the shortfall from £1.4 million to £1 million since December by targeting savings.

But the report says: "While the NHS in East Lancashire has successfully reduced the financial pressure...to £1million, there remains an unresolved financial gap.

"During the next six weeks the health authority, trusts and GPs as partners will attempt to bridge the gap by a combination of re-examining pressures...identifying uncommitted resources if already in the system....and if all else fails by reducing existing service levels."

The health authority says it will try and stick to its main NHS priorities of preserving emergency services and keeping the maximum waiting list for treatment to no more than 18 months.

A task force may also be set up to try and examine future ways of achieving the right financial balance.

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