Keith Griffiths told this year's AGM the current financial situation is the toughest he's known in 19 years as a finance director.

The meeting was held on the 3rd floor of Acre Mills last Thursday and all our divisions had stands showing.

He said the Trust now has 5,479 employees, a budget of £354m where two-thirds goes on pay and the £4m debt last year was under 1% of our total turnover.

He said: "It's my 19th year as a finance director and this is the most challenging in my career to date." He also pledged that we wouldn't stop spending. He said:  "It doesn't mean we have stopped investing and we won't be compromising on patient care."

Measures such as better procurement, reducing our non-clinical spend and tighter budget control were all in place to help reduce the deficit this year. He reported that 90% of  FT hospitals are facing debts.

Our CEO Owen Williams said the way forward was not looking just at our hospitals in isolation but working together with partners across West Yorkshire. He said a year from now the local NHS would look very different.