LOCAL health services face tough decisions as their deficit for this year has risen to £21 million.

At a meeting of Bradford Council's Bradford and Airedale Health and Wellbeing Board yesterday, members heard from health bosses about the pressures the service faces.

Julie Lawreniuk, Chief Finance Officer for NHS Bradford City and Bradford Districts Clinical Commissioning Group, said the predicted savings had been overly "optimistic."

She said: "A lot of what we are working on is short term fixes to fix long term financial problems. We have to have things in place for people who turn up for emergency treatment. But we will have to look at where we can do other things differently in the community to stop people from needing acute care.

"We have to think how we manage this financial gap, and create a sustainable system of health and care going forward.

"I'd love to sit here from a more optimistic position. We have to think how best to spend out budget. We can wait for new funding, but the reality is what we need from the new funding is likely to be a lot more than the funding we get.

"We have to think about what we can spend less on, and what we might have to stop doing."

Members heard of similar budgetary pressures from other health bodies, and how an ageing population and more children requiring care was adding strain to the system.

Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: "When money or new funding comes in then we have to make sure we put it where we know it will make the biggest difference."