FAILURE to meet targets has cost the Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £160,000 since April.

The hospital has paid out £40,000 to the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) each month so far this financial year, for missing its 18-week referral target.

It comes after health watchdog Monitor criticised the hospital in a damning report in March for missing the 18 week target and four-hour A&E waiting times, and placed the hospital under “red risk” for missing the targets.

The Trust has worked to improve performance and has passed the A&E targets each month since April, but has failed to improve its 18-week referral times.

Lesley Doherty, chief executive at the Trust, told the Council of Governors, the 18 week target should be met by the end of September.

She said: “The CCG has reassured us the money will be put back into the services to improve them.” Bolton’s CCG has already invested £800,000 to create a Clinical Decisions Unit at the hospital, which it hopes will help to sustain the improvements in A&E.

The hospital has the best performance across Greater Manchester in its A&E department, which is at 97 per cent, against a target of 95 per cent.

Dr Wirin Bhatiani, chairman of Bolton CCG, said: “We have made the decision to discuss with the Foundation Trust how best to reinvest money to address the issues. What is most important to the CCG is to ensure the hospital meets its performance targets so that the issue of penalties does not arise.”

Heather Edwards, head of communication at the Trust, added: “We have a action plan which we aim will put us on track for this by the end of the quarter.”

The hospital has to save £20 million this year and £50 million over the next three years.

Last month, the health watchdog invoked its rarely used formal intervention powers to appoint a new chairman following a second damning report criticising the Trust’s finances.

Earlier this week, The Bolton News revealed an investigation is currently under way at the Trust to discover how £3.8 million became unaccounted for at the hospital.