The authority has experienced financial difficulties for three years

Five hospital trusts and two primary care trusts run by the Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority are expected to overspend by �83m by March.

A meeting to approve the loan - which will come from other parts of the NHS - is being held on Wednesday.

The authority's �97.3m shortfall is made up of current overspend and debt from the previous financial year.

Major overspends

To cover the shortfall, the authority has already agreed to borrow �40m from the NHS Bank.

Health bosses hope an extra �55m will be approved at Wednesday's meeting, giving a total of �95m.

The final �2.3m will come from reducing capital investment projects.

In a recent report, the Audit Commission said the health authority needed to improve its financial management in an attempt to avoid major overspends.

The five NHS trusts at the heart of the overspend include Ashford and St Peters, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, Royal West Sussex, Worthing and Southlands and the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which reported the biggest overspend of �41m.

Tough decisions

A spokesman for the authority said an action plan was being developed to address the financial position, but warned tough decisions were inevitable.

"It has been made clear by the authority that more needs to be found but you cannot get more money without showing that you have plans in place to get a grip of the situation," he said.

"There is going to be a lot of work done with experts and the Department of Health to work up an action plan to help move us forward."

The Department of Health said that decisive action was being taken to prevent a minority of NHS Trusts from overspending.