Epsom and St Helier Trust is facing a budget deficit of £38 million this year - the largest in the country.

Last Friday the board voted unanimously to accept the trust’s financial projection of a £38m deficit for 2011-12, despite it making a £3.3m surplus this time last year.

Analysis by the Health Service Journal found this was the largest of the 131 trusts in England.

But despite this massive hole in its finances its director of communications, Antony Tiernan, assured this newspaper on Tuesday that there would be no cuts to frontline staff or services for the foreseeable future.

He also promised that the £10m Epsom Hospital development plans would still go ahead as planned.

He said: “There won’t be any front line cuts to services or staff for the foreseeable future.

“The big challenge for us now is to deliver on the £18.7m worth of efficiency savings.”

Areas identified for efficiency savings include cutting down on the number of missed patient appointments, reducing the amount of agency and temporary staff by £8.6m and reducing wastage in medicine provision.

But Geoff Martin, chairman of the London Health Emergency campaign group, said the idea that the idea that the money could be made back in this manner was “disingenuous”.

He said: “There are going to be colossal cuts.

“You won’t save that amount of money by taking these kind of measures.

“It is ridiculous that the trust is in this financial position.

“The people of Epsom need to get out on the streets to fight for their health service.”

MP Chris Grayling said he was concerned by the size of the deficit.

He said: “Things seem to have gone in the wrong direction very quickly.

“The NHS budget is increasing and not decreasing, so it is clear that something has happened and the trust needs to get to grips with the inefficiencies in the system.

“Although it seems that the trust has suffered from Sutton and Merton having scaled back their budgets.”

The trust blamed the deficit on national austerity measures and less money coming in form PCTs.

Kevin O’Brien, Unison branch secretary at Epsom and St Helier, said he blamed both the Government and the trust.

He said: “I feel that this is a dysfunctional trust.

“We are all very worried about job cuts because I can’t see how they expect to make back the money in any other way.”

Despite the trust stating that the information had been on their website since December last year - councillors and Epsom residents said they were completely unaware of the size of the deficit when contacted by the newspaper.

Bess Harding who regularly attends board meetings said she shocked to hear the extent of the deficit.

RA councillor Eber Kington added: “I have a feeling this has been buried on the website.

“It is a very worrying figure indeed.”

The trust has brought in a team from PricewaterhouseCoopers at a cost of £50,000 to oversee the efficiency review.

The financial projections have now been accepted by the board who are now seeking a further £19.3m income from NHS London to cover the rest of the £38m black hole.

A public meeting is being held at Epsom Hospital on Monday, May 18, to discuss the trust’s bid for foundation status with the chair of the transaction board Jan Sawkins. The meeting starts at 6pm in the lecture theatre on the second floor of the Wells Wing.