Cuts to rein in NHS debts (From Oxford Mail)

Cuts to rein in NHS debts

7:55am Thursday 18th May 2006 in

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At least 600 jobs could go across Oxfordshire's NHS in a bid to reduce an estimated £33m deficit within the county's largest hospital trust.

The county's MPs revealed the figures after a briefing with Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Trevor Campbell Davis and chairman Sir William Stubbs.

But they said the trust's top managers did not disclose where the posts would be cut or which services could be affected.

Representatives from the Royal College of Nursing said they had also had meetings with trust managers, but had been asked to keep details confidential.

They criticised the MPs' decision to reveal the job losses, claiming it would upset staff before any decisions were finalised.

Although the trust which runs Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Radcliffe Infirmary, and The Horton Hospital, in Banbury would not confirm the job cuts, it did not deny the number in a statement released last night.

The trust revealed in March that the county's NHS faced a £82m shortfall by the end of the financial year next March, if cuts were not made.

Every hospital trust and primary care trust in the county was initially told they had two weeks to draw up proposals, but have since kept quiet about any likely shake-up. Banbury MP Tony Baldry told the Oxford Mail that during the briefing, the MPs had been told that not all the jobs would be lost through redundancies.

He said: "Trevor and William were anxious to make the point that 600 was the lowest figure, so it could be more, but they're still in discussion with staff and have a meeting with them next Wednesday to finalise the figures.

"The amount lost does not translate into redundancies.

"We were told that the ORH will not know the direct impact these losses will have on services until next week, but I think it means patients will almost certainly have to wait the maximum time for operations."

Mr Baldry and his county Tory colleagues David Cameron, Ed Vaizey and Boris Johnson, have now vowed to launch a petition campaigning against the losses and write to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mr Baldry said: "We want to make the point to the Prime Minister that this is incredibly unfair because, according to the Department of Health's own published figures, the ORH is the most efficient teaching hospital trust in the country.

"Despite this, their lost posts will be the largest number anywhere in the South East.

"We're going to have this type of cuts every year if we're not careful. Life in the NHS will become progressively more difficult, so I think it's important the Government realises this is just not sustainable."

RCN convenor Debbie Pearman said health union officials had been involved in a series of discussions with ORH managers.

She said: "They're furious with the MPs, because we don't necessarily know any of the final plans. As a result, everyone is jittery.

"We've not been given any concrete details by the trust, but everything we have been told we've been asked to keep confidential until it's revealed to all the staff.

"They're already worried, because of rumours going round, and this has pre-empted everything."

In a statement, the trust said: "We plan to discuss our proposals with staff first, and then make them public.

"Our proposals will mean we have to reduce the number of staff we employ.

"While in the longer term this may mean some compulsory redundancies, we do not yet know how many people this will affect."