LEIGHTON Hospital bosses expect to fork out more than £800,000 by April 1 after on-site laundry equipment broke down in January.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs Victoria Infirmary in Northwich and Elmhurst in Winsford, is now having to outsource its laundry services.

The trust has coughed up £466,000 so far to pay for an external company to carry out its laundry service, including transport costs and the purchase of extra linen, and it expects to have spent £870,000 resolving the issue by the end of the financial year.

In a report presented to the trust’s board on Monday, chief executive James Sumner said: “The trust has significant operational issues with its laundry equipment.

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“At present this means that all general laundry for the trust, and its partners who the trust provides a laundry service to, is being outsourced at significant additional cost. Staff within the laundry [department] have been redeployed to other roles within the trust during this period.”

Board members discussed the issue in a private meeting on Monday.

A spokesman for Mid Cheshire Hospitals confirmed there has been ‘no disruption to the service’ as a result of the problem, with the trust following its business continuity plans.