University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has frozen its recruitment of a number of clinical and non-clinical positions due to a huge budget deficit.

In papers published on August 1 from the most recent board meeting, the trust revealed its budget deficit could reach £128.7 million if actions are not taken from April 2024 to March 2025

To tackle this, the trust has set out a “financial recovery programme” to ensure the deficit does not worsen and to “bridge the gap” between spending and funding.

These measures are hoped to reduce the gap to £26.5 million.

Among the plans is a temporary recruitment freeze on non-clinical staff and senior clinical staff positions.

The deficit has been caused by a number of factors including a £41 million running cost increase for the new Louisa Martindale Building as well as a £20 million increase in pay costs due to inflation.

David Grantham, chief people officer at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Patient safety is always our absolute priority. We can only deliver high-quality services with a strong workforce and we now have many more people working in our hospitals and have recruited almost 900 colleagues over the last year alone.

“However, we must also work to keep services financially sustainable and, like many trusts in the country, we are looking at a range of ways to improve our finances. Recruitment into essential clinical roles will not be affected by this temporary pause and we are committed to providing patients with the care they need when they need it."