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NHS trusts have been asked to make drastic cuts as the service faces an anticipated deficiency of nearly ₤ 7 billion, health leaders alerted today.

In a study for NHS Providers, 47 per cent of trust leaders warned they are rolling back services to stabilize the books, while another 43 percent are thinking about doing so.

Rehabilitation centres, talking treatments and diabetes services for youths are among services at threat.

Eighty-six percent of participants said their organisation is needing to cut jobs in non-clinical groups, while 37 percent plan to posts.

A number of trusts are aiming to cut 500 jobs or more, with one preparation as many as 1,000.

NHS union Unison's head of health Helga Pile stated: "Ministers shouldn't be insisting trusts balance their books while ignoring the destructive repercussions for patient care and a demoralised labor force.

"The NHS needs more personnel - not less workers - if hold-ups and awaits clients are to end."

It comes as NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey told a Medical Journalists Association event in London the service had actually "maxed out on what is budget-friendly."

He said that the NHS was likely to have a ₤ 6.6 bn deficit this year, in spite of a budget plan of around ₤ 200bn.

Though he has demanded extraordinary savings, he slammed the "normalisation" of bad care, stating that, ten years back, "we would have never accepted old women being on passages beside an [A&E] department for hours on end."

We Own It creator and director Cat Hobbs stated: "Back in 2012, the NHS was rated as the best healthcare service worldwide.

"That was before the legislation that intentionally opened our entire NHS to profiteering.

"Sir Jim Mackey is dead-on to state that clients being dealt with in corridors and vehicle parks is unacceptable. If he wishes to stop this scandal while saving money, he should end privatisation as quickly as possible.