The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust will now reveal the cuts on the week beginning 29th May, a month later than originally thought.

The delay has been advised by the Turnaround Team brought in to help the hospitals out of debt.

The trust's interim chief executive Helen Scott South said the delay was to make sure the changes were right.

'Good year'

Ms Scott South said she understood the anger of staff but to delay for four weeks was the sensible option.

She added that despite the financial problems, the past year had been a good one for patients.

She said: "There have been more patients through the door this year, we've seen everyone who needed an operation in six months and we've seen more cancer patients.

"But this all inevitably comes at a cost and that's our biggest problem at the moment."

Officials from Unison met with health managers on 21 April to discuss the savings needed to address a predicted overspend of �2m a month.

Union representatives fear the cuts could mean the end of emergency and acute services at Grantham and Louth.