JOBS at Oxfordshire’s hospitals could be lost as the trust that runs them faces £160m of cuts over the next four years.

The news comes as the Oxford University Hospitals Trust (OUH) begins a consultation to become a Foundation Trust — a move which will allow for greater control over its own finances – and which it must complete by late 2013.

If it fails, it could be forced to merge with another organisation.

The £160m of savings – about five per cent of its total budget – are being made as part of a Government drive to slash £20bn from the cost of the NHS.

In an interview with the Oxford Mail, OUH chief executive Sir Jonathan Michael said the trust was faced with £49m worth of savings over the next year alone.

The trust, which is responsible for the John Radcliffe, Churchill and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC) hospitals in Oxford, and the Horton, in Banbury, must then make year-on-year savings until 2015.

Sir Jonathan is currently thrashing out a deal with hospital managers and unions to see where they feel “staff efficiencies” can be made.

The former kidney specialist said: “I think we will see further reductions in staff numbers.

“But I think it will be gradual and we will also see gradual reduction in the overall cost of the workforce.

“The process is we agree budgets with the departments within the organisation. When budgets are agreed they come forward with workforce plans.”

Kelvin Aubrey, regional organiser for Unison Health, said he knew the trust was still trying to bear down on agency costs.

But he added: “The word we hear is that they’re hopeful of not having to affect frontline staff this year based on this and other planned financial measures.

“The staff understand the need to make cuts, but they are concerned about the workloads and how this may affect the way they deal with patients.”

The full details of the proposals are expected later this month.

Last year the trust faced savings of about £52m and had threatened to cut 670 full-time posts.

Sir Jonathan said the bed-blocking crisis, which is seeing well patients staying in hospital beds longer than necessary, prevented losses of that scale.

The OUH was unable to allow any more redundancies, either voluntary or forced, because it had to keep an extra 120 beds open across the trust to deal with demand.

Instead, the savings were made by negotiating new drug contracts with pharmaceutical companies, and stopping the use of all but absolutely necessary agency staff.

Seven people in management positions were made redundant after the hospital trust merged with the NOC, and a further 100 left under a voluntary redundancy scheme.

Sir Jonathan admitted making the latest savings would be tough. He said: “It will not be easy.

“But this is the reality of the financial challenge the NHS has been set.”