HOSPITAL bosses have been forced to take out a multi-million pound emergency loan to pay doctors and nurses, other staff and suppliers.

The trust that runs Furness General Hospital was forced to apply to  borrow  £28.3m from the Department of Health in October.

Financial experts within the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation  Trust used the money to cover staff salaries, to pay suppliers costs for the month as well as settling the organisation's working capital facility.

The cash-starved hospitals trust - which expects to record a £23m deficit by the end of the financial year in March, will have to repay the government loan at a rate of 1.5 per cent.

But senior leaders within UHMBT claim jobs are not under threat despite the organisation's deepening financial crisis, adding there is no danger of its 5,000 staff not being paid.

It is understood UHMBT is one of a number of acute hospital trusts across the country - including Medway NHS Trust and Addenbrook's Hospital in Cambridge - to be forced to apply to the Department of Health for cash to continue its day to day operation.

Aaron Cummins, trust finance director and deputy chief executive, told the Evening Mail: "It is important to note that while this loan was used to meet the staff and suppliers’ costs for October, there is no risk to staff and suppliers being paid each month.

"This loan is subject to interest at 1.5 per cent, and is an important part of the organisation’s transition to financial sustainability in the long term."

Earlier this month, UHMBT was officially classed as being in "financial distress" by the National Audit Office.

It was found to be among 26 trusts in the UK that will record a deficit of more than £20m at the end of March and one of just nine that has been operating in the red for the last three consecutive years.

The hospital's board of directors were informed of the government loan situation in a report last month.

It stated: "Loans of £28.3m were drawn down on  October 12  and used to repay the trust's working capital facility and provide sufficient cash to meet the trust's staff and suppliers' costs for October. 

"The remaining £1m will be drawn down in November."

Earlier this year UHMBT was awarded a local price modification grant of £22m by the Department of Health in recognition of the difficulties of providing services across such a large geographical area.

But bosses have had to call upon a government loan to cover some £3m of the due monies which have not been received.

Last month, the yet-to-be-paid LPM money was said to be posing UHMBT's biggest risk to its cash flow.