NHS Wiltshire ended the 2008/9 financial year with a £1.167m surplus.

During the year, the organisation was at risk of ending with an overspend but came in on target with a surplus.

Areas where money was saved was reaching agreement on contracts with acute hospitals such as Great Western Hospital in Swindon, tightening up spending on prescribing drugs and an underspend by Wiltshire Community Health Services.

Jeff James, chief executive of NHS Wiltshire, said: “Living within our means is vitally important for any public service organisation. It matters directly to patients because money that would have been used to repay debts can be put to its proper purpose - improving services for people in Wiltshire. “Our performance over the past year shows that our healthier financial position has translated directly into better healthcare.

“Once commonly referred to as ‘cash strapped’ NHS Wiltshire is now on track to becoming one of the healthiest counties in the region.”