The interim head of an NHS mental health trust in Cambridgeshire has said he is working to get the service back to a “stable financial position”.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust said in January that it was facing a £8.8million deficit, but this week (March 27) said this had now been reduced to £800,000 deficit.

The trust delivers a range of mental health and social care services in the county, and is responsible for the Cavell Centre in Peterborough and Fulbourn Hospital.

The trust’s Board of Directors meeting heard that the deficit had been reduced after it received additional funding support from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System.

Board members were told that the trust was expecting to reach a break even position.

However, a report presented to the meeting said there were still millions-of-pounds of overspends being seen in some areas.

These included a £4.3million overspend on agency staff costs, a £3.9million overspend on out of area placements, and a £1.9million on estates costs due to inflation and “increased minor works spend”.

Lauren Gable, the chief finance officer, said the agency staff costs and the out of area placements were ongoing challenges for the trust, but said there was a plan to address both of these issues.

Scott Haldane, the interim chief executive, highlighted the trust’s “financial context” and said it was working on moving “back into a more resilient and stable financial position”.

Mr Haldene took on the interim role at the trust after the former chief executive, Anna Hills, stepped down last month following the announcement of a review into all of the suicides the trust had seen since 2017.

The Board heard that progress was being made with the review.

Mr Haldene said the trust had also recently been visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

He told the meeting that while the full results of the visit had not yet been shared, he said initial feedback from the CQC had been “positive”.