WARD closures, deficits, delayed operations and NHS job losses in the region are part of a national pattern, according to a survey of health chiefs.

More than seven in ten (73 per cent) primary care trusts (PCTs) across England are restricting access to treatments, according to the survey carried out by the Health Service Journal and released today.

Health bosses say that half of PCTs are delaying operations and 61 per cent of acute hospital trusts are closing wards.

The survey comes after reports in recent weeks of the drastic measures taken by some trusts to cut costs.

In the North-East, the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which has said it needs to shed 700 jobs to balance its books over the next few years, has recently closed wards at Bishop Auckland General Hospital and Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Serious financial problems have forced the North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust to instruct hospital trusts to restrict access to routine surgery.

As part of efforts to reduce what is forecast to be a £35m deficit, the North Yorkshire and York PCT has imposed a minimum waiting time of 16 weeks for routine surgery, even if the hospitals could operate in a shorter time, and placed a temporary ban on a range of non-urgent procedures.

In a separate dispute, the North Yorkshire and York PCT is refusing to pay for £7m worth of treatment carried out by the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, last year.

The Friarage's parent trust - the South Tees Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - is struggling to reduce £21m worth of accumulated debts.

The City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Sunderland Royal Hospital, recently announced it needed to reduce its workforce by 500 to live within its means.

Government figures published last month showed that more than one in three hospitals and primary care trusts are expected to finish the financial year in the red.

However, a surplus generated by some trusts and cash help for activities such as education will be used to offset the total NHS debt.

The survey of 97 NHS chief executives revealed that current Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is the least popular in the past decade, with a score of 4.4 out of ten, compared with the most popular - Darlington MP Alan Milburn - who scored 5.8.