Hospital bosses are paying an independent financial expert £143,000 to help them save money.

Managers at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust are currently spending around £1 million more a month than they can afford and are struggling to keep costs under control.

The trust, which runs Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, needs to save £21 million this year but admits it does not have the financial expertise to hit the target and it needs extra help.

It has called in consultant Donald Muir and his team, who will be looking at all areas of the trust over the next 11 weeks to find ways to help it save money.

There are no plans for job losses or any cuts in patient services.

Managers hope the money will be saved through working more efficiently and a closer monitoring on what services, supplies and equipment staff are buying.

A trust spokeswoman said: “The trust has finally become debt free after years of work and we want to keep it that way.

“However this year is proving a lot tougher than we were expecting.”

In a message to staff, trust chief executive Duncan Selbie said: “Everyone knows we are facing the most pressure ever in our income and expenditure and I hope it is understood by everyone that we are presently spending more than we are earning.

“The NHS can’t stop providing services which do not make a profit. If we did, no hospital would have an accident and emergency or any elderly care or general medical wards.

“For the services that will never break even we need to demonstrate we are as efficient as we can be and in those where we can make a profit we need to be the best there is.

“Only through this combination can the hospital as a whole thrive.

“The country is in an extremely tough spot, as is the NHS, and so are we, and we won’t ignore it.”

Peter Adams, from the Patient Action Group in Sussex, said: “I would have expected hospitals to employ people with the expertise to do this type of work instead of having to spend money asking independent experts to help.”

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is working with accountants Ernst and Young to try to clear a £6 million deficit but Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust has not brought in anyone to help it manage costs at this stage.