Long working hours to slash £40m debts at Oxfordshire's major hospitals and improve patient conditions have taken their toll on committed staff, according to a top NHS manager.

Trevor Campbell Davis, chief executive of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, admitted that workers' dedication had affected their personal lives. He said managers were now acting to alleviate the problem.

His comments came after a survey revealed that almost half the employees at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Radcliffe Infirmary, and the Horton, Banbury, did up to five hours of unpaid overtime a week.

Mr Campbell Davis said their hard work was directly linked to improvements across the ORH, including reducing a £40m deficit to less than £3m in the last 12 months.

In a board report, he said: "Despite treating more patients than ever before, our hospitals have reduced waiting times for both emergency and elective admissions, and for outpatients attendances.

"I am acutely aware that this performance has been achieved by outstanding commitment and long working hours by my clinical, managerial and other colleagues.

"I recognise that the pressures of working in today's NHS take a toll on their personal lives, and I commend their dedication."

The trust has been struggling with underlying financial worries for two years, when debts of more than £21m had to be paid off using funds from the sale of the RI in Woodstock Road.

But £17.1m savings, the retrieval of outstanding money from primary care trusts -- which pay for patient treatment -- and cuts in inessential staffing have helped cut the deficit.

Managers have also tried to reduce the use of temporary workers, by blacklisting high-cost agencies which cost £12m in 2002.

According to the results of a recent Healthcare Commission questionnaire last month, 80 per cent of staff did extra hours -- more than any other hospital trust.

Nearly 46 per cent said they worked one to five hours extra without being paid, and 12.1 per cent said they worked six to 10 hours extra without claiming. Mr Campbell Davis said: "My main objective now is to make sure they feel satisfied in their jobs.

"I can't promise people will ever be able to work nine to five jobs, but I don't want them to work so continuously that they burn out or it affects their family life."

Staff are also being made aware of the European Working Time Regulations, restricting working hours to 48 a week, and are being told to go home on time.

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