NHS warning to Preston and Chorley hospital bosses over financial deficit

The trust that runs the Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble hospitals is under threat of having one or more of its directors replaced if it fails to reduce its financial deficit, it has emerged.

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A notice was issued by NHS England six months ago imposing an "additional licence condition" on Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH), details of which have only just been published.

It requires that the organisation “address and resolve its financial performance issues” - by making sustained improvements during 2025/26 - in order to enable the trust “to return to delivery of the financial plan” agreed with NHS leaders.

The delay in publishing the so-called ‘imposition’ notice means that the figures it refers to are now almost a year out of date. However, information to be presented to an LTH board meeting on Thursday shows that the trust is still under significant financial pressure.

At the end of October 2025 - just over halfway through the 2025/26 financial year - its deficit stood at £17.7m, compared to a planned and approved overspend of £2.5m.