PREVENTING patients from suffering harm in hospital last year helped the area's cash-strapped health bosses achieve a massive £3m cost saving last year.

A new report has revealed the price tag attached to each avoidable hospital fall is £3,000, helping to save a total of £558,000 last year.

Those in charge of the trust that runs Furness General Hospital also estimate preventing patients from acquiring infections like C diff and MRSA during the 2016/17 year saved an extra £51,560.

However, an increase in the number of patients who acquired a Grade II pressure ulcer last year cost a total of £88,000, the annual document states.

Sue Smith, executive chief nurse at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, explained high-quality, safe care was best for patients as well as the hospital trust itself.

Mrs Smith added: "Staff at every level of the organisation deliver extraordinary care and continue to go above and beyond what is asked of them every single day.

"Their pride in the quality of patient care and their support for each other is clear to see and I would like to acknowledge this and thank them both from a professional perspective and from a personal one.

"In 2016/17 the corporate nursing team has driven over £3 million of efficiency and this report demonstrates that quality and efficiency, both operational and financial, are closely aligned; and that where quality is the focus, efficiencies follow."

Last year 169 patients were reported to have suffered an avoidable fall after being admitted to FGH, Westmorland General Hospital, in Kendal, or the Royal Lancaster Infirmary - 186 fewer than during 2015/16.

Bosses recorded 25 cases of hospital acquired C-Difficile in the 12 months prior to April 2016 compared to the previous year. Experts calculate each case costs an average of £6,445 to treat.

Mrs Smith added: "The senior nurse team and I look forward to contributing and influencing significant service developments and operational efficiencies through delivering improved quality of care and patient and staff experience during 2017/18 and over the next three years."