A struggling NHS trust has announced it is making £10 million of cuts by passing on dozens of appointments to GPs.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Crawley Hospital, is to cut its bill for agency workers covering sickness and holiday and reduce the number of follow-up outpatient appointments - referring patients to family doctors instead.

The trust, which also runs East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, was nearly £30 million in debt last year when chief executive Ken Cunningham resigned and was replaced by troubleshooter Anthony McKeever.

Mr McKeever said in a message to staff: "The outlook for the current financial year is an even bigger shortfall unless we do something to address the underlying causes. Frankly we must, like every other organisation, live within our means.

"In order to make £10 million worth of savings we will need to spend much less on bank and agency staff and we will need to re-deploy some of our present staff into areas of greatest patient need and greatest clinical priority."

The plans have provoked a backlash from activists who are fighting for a new hospital in Crawley.

Campaigner Michael Edwards, of Pound Hill, Crawley, said: "You could see this coming a long time ago and now the trust has serious money problems.

"It is all very well to say people can go to their GP but I'm not sure how well it will work in practice.

"We have said all along that a growing town like Crawley should have a new hospital and we will carry on saying that until it happens."

Mr McKeever said he did not expect any redundancies but there will be some changes experienced by patients and staff.

Mark Pettit, a GP in Crawley, said there was a consensus within the NHS that people should be able to get more services and support from GP surgeries and clinics instead of hospitals.

But he added: "Changes like this could add to the workload but as long as surgeries get the financial support and backing then it should be okay."

Trust staff working in areas where there will be less demand for services, such as outpatient departments, will be moved to work in busier areas such as Crawley Hospital's walk-in centre.

The trust, which got a zero rating out of a possible three in the Government's annual star ratings last year, was heavily criticised for closing the A&E at Crawley and sending critically ill patients to Redhill.

Mr McKeever said the trust was working closely with the Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority and meeting regularly with local primary care trusts so it could keep its spending under control.

He added: "We must guarantee emergency and clinically urgent treatment for those patients in need.

"Then we must rebuild public confidence in the trust and its services and thirdly we must achieve recurring financial balance."