DORSET County Hospital is haemorrhaging an average of half-a-million pounds a month.

Figures in the hospital trust’s annual report showed a deficit of £1.84million for the last financial year of April 2008 to March 2009.

Hospital chiefs have been faced with losses of an average of £0.5m a month while battling a predicted deficit of £7.5million by the end of the financial year.

The report reveals the full extent of the trust’s financial decisions before the formal intervention by the independent regulator Monitor and the resignations of chief executive Jan Bergman and board chairman Robin SeQueira.