Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Just one of the NHS trusts in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is expected to end 2015/16 with a surplus

Hospital trusts across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are facing a combined deficit of more than £240m, with all but one of 15 trusts predicting it will end 2015/16 in the red.

Research by the BBC has found only Harrogate & District NHS Foundation Trust expects to record a surplus.

One academic described the problem as "chronic" and said a failure to address it would impact on patient care.

The government says funds are available to trusts that balance their books.

Of the 15 trusts in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, United Lincolnshire and Leeds Teaching Hospital trusts expect to record the largest deficits.

NHS Trust deficits 2015/16 (predicted) £110.7m East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

£80.7m West Yorkshire

£51.5m South Yorkshire

£10.1m North Yorkshire Thinkstock

In Leeds, where in 2013/14 the trust recorded a £1.6m surplus, the debt is set to hit £40.2m while in Lincolnshire the projected deficit has risen from £26m to £57.8m over the same period.

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust are predicting the highest deficit in South Yorkshire of £27m. In 13/14 it recorded a surplus of £5.2m.

York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the only trust in North Yorkshire predicting a deficit, expects to record a deficit for the first time in its history - with an £11m loss.

In 2013/14 only five trusts recorded a deficit.

WEST YORKSHIRE 13/14 14/15 15/16 (predicted) Airedale £467,000 £59,000 -£1,200,000 Bradford £3,800,000 £1,800,000 -£3,500,000 Calderdale & Huddersfield £2,700,000 -£4,300,000 -£21,000,000 Leeds £1,600,000 -£24,300,000 -£40,200,000 Mid-Yorkshire -£19,200,00 -£9,100,000 -£14,800,000

NORTH YORKSHIRE 13/14 14/15 15/16 (predicted) Harrogate & District £671,000 -£577,000 £250,000 York £200,000 -£2,100,000 -£11,000,000

SOUTH YORKSHIRE 13/14 14/15 15/16 (predicted) Barnsley -£9,949,000 -£11,965,000 -£11,2000,000 Doncaster & Bassetlaw £5,220,000 £1,619,000 -£27,000,000 Rotherham -£3,200,000 £139,000 -£1,924,000 Sheffield Children's £2,400,000 £270,000 -£380,000 Sheffield Teaching £7,200,000 £8,400,000 -£11,000,000 EAST YORKSHIRE AND LINCOLNSHIRE 13/14 14/15 15/16 (predicted) Hull & East Yorkshire £5,900,000 £2,900,000 -£17,700,000 United Lincolnshire £-£26,000,000 -£15,000,000 -£57,800,000 Northern Lincolnshire & Goole -£5,150,000 -£21,070,000 -£25,180,000

Alan Maynard, professor of health economics at the University of York and former chairman of York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "I think it is now quite chronic because we saved and scrimped through the 2010 to 2015 period but there are no more savings to be found easily in the NHS.

"I think it will begin to have an impact on patient care."

He said some trusts were "having difficulties" in meeting the 18-week target for hip and knee operations and "scandals" linked to Accident and Emergency waiting times were on the rise.

"This is a product of inadequate funding and it's got to be sorted out in order to ensure the local population have their health care needs met."

In November, 190 out of the 241 NHS trusts reported a deficit for the second quarter of the year.

Pat Crowley, from York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We're asking our staff to avoid any spending on anything that is non-critical in order to improve our financial position, in order to improve and secure our cash reserves, in order to secure our ability to invest in the future. If we can't do that of course that is damaging to our services."

'Failure not an option'

Tony Whitfield, finance director at Leeds Hospital Trust, said: "For this organisation to be one of the best in the country and to thrive we need to be able to make some surpluses so we can invest in facilities, in infrastructure and the staff."

A spokeswoman for United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust said its deficit was largely due to spending on agency staff and the cost of additional beds for patients medically fit for discharge but have no community or social care support available.

She said the trust had "many actions and plans in place to save money and boost our income".

Earlier this month, The Department for Health said it had made £1.8bn of "transformation funding" available to trusts able to meet financial targets for the remainder of this financial year and "balance the books" in 2016/17.

The health watchdog Monitor, which is sponsored by the government, said problems such as rising costs, a growing and ageing population and a need to keep developing treatments were out of its control.

Paul Chandler, from the organisation, said a new approach to healthcare was needed to cut costs.

"What we need to do is focus much more on preventing people from getting ill, helping people to lead healthy lives with a minimal need for healthcare.

"Where people do need healthcare we also need to develop a range of treatments outside hospital."