26.01.11
Hospital trust to cut up to 1,600 jobs
A hospital trust in central England has announced up to 1,600 job cuts over four years to meet savings targets.
The Heart of England Foundation Trust, which runs Solihull, Good Hope and Heartlands hospitals in the West Midlands, said it hopes to improve efficiency and lose many of the posts through ‘natural wastage’ in its quest to save 4% a year.
It needs to find £16.7 million in savings this financial year alone.
Trust chief executive Mark Newbold told the Solihull News: “We continue to recruit in important frontline posts as well as redesign services to improve patient outcomes and patient experience.”
But a Unison organiser, Rob Johnson, called the cuts “unprecedented” and “dangerous” and said: “We are concerned that the dash for cash could lead to the problems at Mid Staffordshire.”
The Royal College of Nursing has previously warned that 27,000 posts could be cut across the country, and it was reported last year that NHS trusts have set aside a £2bn ‘fund’ for redundancy pay-outs and redeployment.
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