HOSPITAL bosses remain confident they can continue to provide excellent service despite facing another drop in the national star rating system.

Lewisham Hospital staff are bracing themselves for a possible zero-rated performance when results are published in July.

The star system is used to rank hospital performance across the country, with each being awarded between zero and three stars. Last year Lewisham dropped from three to two stars.

One of the star systems' requirements is a hospital's budget breaks-even but by the end of the financial year 2004/5 Lewisham fell short of the target by £7.5m.

Hospital bosses believe the deficit came about by implementing tough new waiting time targets and national policy.

The hospital also failed to meet accident and emergency waiting time targets, which require it to deal with patients within four hours.

It missed the 98 per cent target by just two per cent and bosses believe this adds to the possibility of the trust getting a zero star rating.

The trust plans to save £8m in the new financial year and has identified ways to save £5.6m.

These include closing a medial ward during the quiet summer period, shutting a surgical ward for the foreseeable future and employing less agency staff.

It is hoped the plan will balance the hospital's finances within three years without compromising patient services.

The hospital's chief executive Claire Perry said: "Although we are concerned about the potential loss of stars, I feel it's important for patients to know waiting times for treatment continue to improve within A&E and for operations and outpatient appointments.

"We are also continuing to improve the quality of our treatment, such as in colorectal cancer care where our ground-breaking specialist nurse teams provide practical and psychological support throughout the treatment.

"In just over a year, we will open our new inpatients building, which will provide us with the environment our patients and staff deserve."