THE hospital trust responsible for health services across Berkshire reported a loss of nearly £9m last year, but says it expects to make £4m profit in 2016-17.

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for services including Bracknell Healthspace, presented its financial deficit to members at its annual general meeting in Reading on July 19.

Despite the trust’s financial difficulties, around £147,000 of funding has been set aside this year to invest in Bracknell’s Broad Lane health centre and for the creation of five additional clinic rooms.

Craig Anderson, finance director at the trust, said: “The NHS is financially challenged. Some 75 to 80 per cent of trusts reported a deficit and ours was £9m.

“We are pleased that probably a quarter of trusts met their predicted financial commitments and we were one. We said we expected to lose £9m and we have.

“In 2015-16 we delivered £17.5m of savings.”

An audit of the books found the trust could still save money by improving IT systems and across the year it has invested £3m in IT systems as well as £1m into a new data warehouse, and introduced free Wi-fi for all patients.

Overall, the Royal Berkshire Trust took in more money than expected but the gain was cancelled out by the increasing costs of drugs and medication.

In 2016-17 it will be given an extra £9.9m from central government to help bridge administration costs, and the trust is also preparing to make a further £15m of savings.

As a whole the trust serves more than 500,000 people, employs more than 5,000 staff and delivered 5.491 babies in the past year