WILTSHIRE Primary Care Trust has overspent in the first month into the new financial year.

The deficit of £479,000 during April was attributed to more patients than the PCT expected being treated at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Swindon's Great Western Hospital and Salisbury District Hospital.

John Williams, director of finance at Wiltshire Primary Care Trust, told a board meeting on Tuesday in Devizes that there were more patients being seen for planned operations and outpatient appointments at the hospitals than the PCT had anticipated.

He said the PCT has saved £197,000 by not filling vacancies in its own management and administration departments and said posts would not be filled unless absolutely necessary.

He said: "If we continue to get the level of over spending we have had we will run into difficulties. I am very keen we slow down on our rates of expenditure."

Mr Williams said the PCT would be talking to the three acute hospitals to find out why there had been larger number of patients attending and checking to see that hospitals were following the agreed pattern of treating patients as well as talking to GPs about referral of patients.

By next March the PCT has to achieve a target of patients being treated at hospital within 13 weeks of being referred by GPs.

Last year Wiltshire PCT finished the year with an underspend of £256.

The PCT's massive debts of £80m were wiped out partly through savings made by the PCT and the Strategic Health Authority writing off some of the money.

Mr Williams warned the PCT board on Tuesday: "We should be restricting expenditure, we certainly need to curtail the demand. I'm reluctant at this stage to get into an emergency savings programme but I wanted you to know it could get difficult."