MEMBERS of the Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) expressed concern at paying £125,000 towards setting up a private finance scheme.

The trust, together with West Wiltshire PCT, is being urged to join the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) project by Salisbury and Swindon PCTs.

The scheme works by central government allocating money to LIFT projects which become joint venture companies and the trusts would become shareholders.

The idea is to build new primary health care buildings or refurbish existing GP surgeries and the board was told it is a cheaper alternative than Private Finance Initiatives.

But members of the board could not see what the benefits of the scheme would be and were unhappy at spending £125,000 now when they may decide in the future not to take part.

The board decided to defer the matter to the trust's finance sub-committee and if it was content that it would bring benefits it would recommend so to the acting trust chairman Ron Crook, who would sign up to it.

The trust's board was told that the trust is forecasting an overspend this year of £8.8million.

The financial position has improved slightly from two months ago when the overspend was expected to be £9.6million.

Acting director of finance Derek Harvey said he was in discussions with the strategic health authority to see if it could assist with addressing the overspend.

He said all budget holders at the trust had been written to by the chief executive Carol Clarke and told that money which can be saved without affecting patient services should not be committed.

He said if the trust ends the financial year with an overspend it is likely to face a surcharge.

However it is not all bad news. The board was told that its prescribing budget is likely to end this financial year with an underspend of £150,000.

In November the prescribing budget was forecasting an overspend for the year of £188,000.

The trust has worked hard with GP surgeries to cut down on wasted prescriptions and more efficient use of drugs without affecting the health of patients.

Its prescribing budget is £26.7million.

In the latest figures presented to the board the cost of prescribing drugs per standardised patient are the lowest of all Wiltshire Primary Care Trusts.