More hospital job losses have been announced as the NHS in Sussex faces a deepening crisis.

The latest cuts bring the total number of job losses in the county to 1,175, with the chance of more to come.

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust, which runs St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, has announced it intends to shed 200 posts during the next two years as part of plans to save more than £8 million.

The trust says it hopes to relocate staff to other posts within the organisation, so there will be no wholesale redundancies.

Any redundancies will be made as a last resort.

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust is still drawing up its savings plans and is expecting to announce its proposals at the end of the month.

Managers have warned cuts in posts cannot be ruled out, although they said they would do what they could to avoid redundancies.

Worthing is forecasting a deficit of £12 million by the end of next March.

It has just had one of its busiest years ever and has called in a team of experts to help it get back on financial track.

Between April 2005 and March 2006, the trust dealt with more than 230,000 outpatients - an increase of four per cent on the year before.

Accident and emergency visits were up by three per cent as Worthing Hospital dealt with 62,900 patients, and there were 61,000 inpatient admissions - another three per cent rise.

Almost every major hospital trust in Sussex is axeing posts as they try to grapple with debts totalling more than £100 million.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals is losing 325, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare 400 and East Sussex Hospitals 250.

Roles affected at St Richard's have not been outlined in detail but are expected to fall predominantly in the administration and managerial area.

The trust employs about 2,500 workers and overspent last year by more than £13 million, although when historic debts are added, it owes more than £35 million. It has an annual budget of about £84 million.

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust, along with Brighton and Surrey and Sussex trust, had a specialist turnaround team sent in by the Government to help get its spiralling debts back under control.

Its chief executive Andrew Liles called staff together yesterday to outline the plans.

He said the trust was spending £1 million a month more than it could afford and would be between £12 and £14 million over budget by the end of the financial year.

Mr Liles said: "We have an excellent clinical reputation and nothing in this turnaround plan will jeopardise that.

"Our plan focuses on where efficiencies can be made. This includes how we schedule patient care through outpatients, wards and theatres, administrative support and getting value for money when we buy goods or services."

Director of human resources Ian Watson said: "The trust will make every effort to minimise any redundancies, although this may be, regrettably, necessary for some posts if no suitable alternative options are available."

Other parts of the plan include saving money by treating more patients in the community, selling off unwanted land and treating more patients as day cases to cut down on the costs of keeping people in overnight.

A spokesman for Unison in Sussex said he was disappointed but not surprised.

He said: "This is happening all over the country. We will once again be contacting our members and supporting them in any way we can."