Reassurances from health secretary Alan Milburn over NHS cost-cutting have failed to win over an Oxfordshire patients' group.

Mr Milburn has been forced to talk down a tough memo sent to hospitals throughout Oxfordshire and the south east which demanded savings totalling £60m in the next nine weeks. It was sent by NHS regional director for south east England Ruth Carnell and said: "I do not want reasons as to why savings cannot be achieved, but proposals as to what savings can be actioned."

Mr Milburn disowned the memo, saying the NHS had "some slack available" to help balance hospitals' books by the end of March.

"There will be no adverse impact on patient care," he said.

Linda Watson, chief officer of the Oxfordshire Community Health Council -- which represents the public's interest in the NHS -- said she was unconvinced by his response.

She said: "In spite of Mr Milburn's comments at the centre, the pressures at the sharp end are huge. It is an annual event at this time of year that hospitals have to claw back money to balance budgets. I am not surprised at all by the content of Ms Carnell's letter. All the local trusts know they have to get to the end of the year with balanced budgets."