NHS trusts have been asked to make extreme cuts as the service deals with a predicted deficiency of almost ₤ 7 billion, health leaders warned today.

In a survey for NHS Providers, 47 percent of trust leaders alerted they are rolling back services to balance the books, while another 43 percent are considering doing so.

Rehabilitation centres, talking therapies and diabetes services for young people are among services at threat.

Eighty-six percent of participants stated their is having to cut tasks in non-clinical groups, while 37 per cent plan to cut clinical posts.

A number of trusts are intending to cut 500 jobs or more, with one preparation as many as 1,000.

NHS union Unison's head of health Helga Pile said: "Ministers should not be insisting trusts balance their books while disregarding the destructive consequences for client care and a demoralised labor force.

"The NHS needs more staff - not less employees - if hold-ups and waits on patients are to end."

It comes as NHS president Sir Jim Mackey informed a Medical Journalists Association event in London the service had "maxed out on what is budget-friendly."

He said that the NHS was most likely to have a ₤ 6.6 bn deficit this year, despite a budget of around ₤ 200bn.

Though he has demanded unmatched cost savings, he slammed the "normalisation" of bad care, saying that, 10 years earlier, "we would have never ever accepted old women being on passages next to an [A&E] department for hours on end."

We Own It founder and director Cat Hobbs stated: "Back in 2012, the NHS was rated as the best health care service worldwide.

"That was before the legislation that intentionally opened up our whole NHS to profiteering.

"Sir Jim Mackey is absolutely best to state that patients being treated in passages and automobile parks is unacceptable. If he desires to stop this scandal while conserving cash, he must end privatisation as quickly as possible.