Cost-saving measures at Oxfordshire's major hospitals, including redundancies and bed losses, will be painful, according to the chairman of the county's health watchdog group.

Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee head Dr Peter Skolar said although the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust had yet to reveal firm plans to save £32m, managers had warned some of their proposals were severe enough to warrant public consultation.

The Oxford Mail has received calls from anxious health workers who claimed to have been told about bed cuts during meetings with managers.

One said: "I want you to tell your readers that big, big cuts are coming in the health service here.

"Staff have been told there are going to be bed cuts on the wards, and how many will be lost in each one. The worrying thing is we were blatantly told it was not to be discussed with anyone until after the elections."

Another worker claimed four dermatology beds at the Churchill Hospital were being axed, while a doctor warned that bed cuts at the county's largest hospital, the John Radcliffe, would leave it "unviable".

Staff nurse Tracey Walters, who was due to start a midwifery course in June, had also been told her training had been cancelled to save money.

She said: "I found out on Monday, to my utter despair and only through my own perseverance, that this course has been 'postponed indefinitely' due to the trust's financial situation.

"I received written confirmation yesterday, just days before it was due to start."

Despite the concerns, Dr Skolar was confident that ORH board members had not yet rubber-stamped any cost-cutting measures. He said: "They've confirmed that the cuts will be painful, and know anything constituting major service change will have to go through formal three-month public consultation."

ORH spokesman Helen Peggs said departments were holding informal meetings, adding: "We may close dermatology beds or beds elsewhere, and we may not."

She said the 18-month midwifery course, which eight staff were due to enrol on, had been cancelled to save £60,000, but the staff would stay as nurses.