North West London Hospitals is set to lose 24 per cent of its total budget

A trust which runs Brent’s hospitals faces �92million of cuts over the next three years sparking fears for jobs and front line services.

North West London Hospitals, which manages Central Middlesex, Northwick Park and St Mark’s hospitals, is set to lose 24 per cent of its total budget.

The trust already struggles to break even and is known for its significant level of historic debt, according to the report.

More worryingly, the document says the trust cannot achieve these savings and predicts it will fall short of its target by �25-�40million.

To help ease its financial woes, it recommends merging with Ealing Hospital NHS Trust.

Dr John Lister, director of hospital campaign group Health Emergency, said: “These cuts are enormous. They will struggle to find �10m let alone �92m.

“It is the people whose care can be put off who will suffer. It is people waiting for operations, older people who need long term treatment and front line staff who will lose out.

“If staff do not lose their jobs, then their workload will increase. For staff, the next five years will be incredibly stressful.”

He added: “What the government is asking to do has never been done before. The government has asked for a cut too far.”

The cuts are part of the government’s national plan for the NHS to save �20billion by 2014.

A spokesman for the trust said money will be reallocated to prevention and primary care services like GPs.

He added: “It is important to note that overall spending on healthcare in north west London is increasing in real terms.

“The trust is currently considering a merger with Ealing Hospital NHS Trust as a way of helping us to meet this financial challenge.

“By working together as a single entity, we envisage that economies of scale will help us make the best use of available resources, while maintaining the highest quality of care for our patients.”

A decision is yet to be made on the merger.