The NHS in Yarmouth and Waveney did not manage to spend all the money that was allocated to it last year.The area's primary care trust (PCT) had a £2.

The NHS in Yarmouth and Waveney did not manage to spend all the money that was allocated to it last year.

The area's primary care trust (PCT) had a £2.4m underspend in the year ending in April - a contrast to the £1.5m overspend it had a year earlier. It is still not clear on whether the trust will get its £2.4m back or whether it will be kept by the region's health authority and perhaps used to balance the books of other overspending areas.

The underspend happened mainly because the PCT had budgeted £4.3m to repay people who had to pay for their own continuing care, but are now entitled to it on the NHS under new rules. Auditors said that £4.3m was too much to set aside and it should have been £2.5m, although because the claims are still ongoing it is not clear what the true figure is.

A recovery plan intended to bring the PCT back into the black also saved more money than expected, while less was spent on prescribing.

Chief executive Mike Stonard denied that it meant they had made too many cutbacks. “It absolutely doesn't. The recovery plan was about making efficiency savings and there weren't any savings made that we shouldn't have been making anyway.”