Hospital managers with an annual £108 million budget are planning to break even by the end of the financial year.

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust reported an overspend of £340,000 last month but a tightening of belts means it should be down to zero by April.

Trust chairman Stuart Heatherington said: "A lot of people are doing a lot of work behind the scenes that will make sure we are comfortable at the end of the year.

"We have a very fine balancing act to arrive at."

Meanwhile, extra money from Chancellor Gordon Brown is beginning to filter into the system after his pledge to inject huge sums into the NHS.

The trust has been allocated £2.25 million in capital allocations next year, £2.57 million the year after and £2.91 million in 2005-06 - an average growth of 14 per cent.

Usually the Government gives such figures on a yearly basis but the three-year announcement has enabled it to plan ahead.