HEALTH bosses in Fareham and Gosport are expected to report that they broke even last financial year despite indicating they were facing a deficit of more than £700,000 just five months ago.

At a public meeting of the Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust tonight members will be told that the trust has met its duty to balance income and expenditure in the year up to April 2004.

It comes despite an overspend of £780,000 reported in January, which was blamed on the high cost of free nursing care for the elderly as well as spiralling prescription costs as new, more expensive drugs come on to the market.

A report from the PCT's director of finance says spiralling costs have been contained by several proactive stances including a review of its service agreement with Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and "tightly reviewed" care claims.

The trust's statutory accounts are now being logged with the Department of Health. In the report Alan Pickering said: "The PCT will have met its duty to contain revenue spending within its resource limit and thus break even.

"Despite a very difficult and challenging year financially and significant issues arising in the past few months for the year, the PCT has been able to meet all its financial duties."

The two-year-old Fareham and Gosport PCT has an annual turnover of £163m. PCTs are the NHS organisations which deliver healthcare services across the communities including GP surgeries, health centres and community hospitals.

A financial recovery plan, set to be discussed tonight, will have to find ways of filling a £4.7m funding gap for the next financial year blamed on inheriting unavoidable service commitments. That comes despite additional government funding of £13m.

The meeting will take place at 7.30pm at the Fareham Baptist Church, Gosport Road, Fareham.