Leicestershire NHS bosses defend £10m surplus
Health bosses in Leicester, Rutland and Leicestershire have defended running up a budget surplus of £10m.
The money comes from savings made from the combined £1.5bn budgets of the primary care trusts in the past financial year.
NHS managers said it was prudent to set aside money for future investment and unforeseeable problems.
But a health campaigner has questioned making the savings when there were pressing demands for the money.
Zuffar Haq, a patients campaigner from Leicester, said: "I want to see that money reinvested in healthcare.
"Leicester has a lot of particular problems to deal with such as heart disease and diabetes."
Director of finance for the Leicester NHS PCT cluster, Sue Bishop, said the amount had been agreed with the Department of Health.
"We are very fortunate in that the NHS received additional funding.
"So we have combined that additional growth with savings that we think we can make safely without affecting the quality of care."