Maidstone hospital redundancies
Maidstone Hospital, where
staff have been asked to consider redundancy
A health trust's bid to slash hundreds of posts has seen just 20
take up voluntary redundancy.
Four thousand staff at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS
trust were asked if they wanted to apply back in October last
year.
But despite needing to cut up to 200 posts, just a handful have
applied, it's been revealed.
Health bosses at the trust, which runs Maidstone Hospital
and the Pembury in Tunbridge Wells, needs to save
£60m over the next three years.
It will now look at other ways of making cutbacks.
A trust spokesman said: "The Trust's efficiency drive is widely
spread out and was never solely aimed at staff taking voluntary
serverance with remuneration.
"You cannot keep on salami slicing the service like this, it has an impact on morale and it will have an impact on patient care" – Unison officer Simon Bolton
"We are reducing the
amount if costs to run our Trust - about £1m a day - by getting
better value for money in many ways."
This included reducing buying costs and the costs of treating
patients.
It recently opened a new urgent medical unit, which has slashed
the time patients are left waiting overnight in hospital for test
results or to be discharged.
But Simon Bolton, regional officer with union Unison, was
concerned more staff would lose their jobs.
He said “They are now going to have to start consultation on
forced redundancies to ensure they get the cost savings they are
looking for. That’s going to have an impact on patient care.”
He said the further cuts were "just madness".
He added: “You cannot keep on salami slicing the service like
this, it has an impact on morale and it will have an impact on
patient care.
“Every single job in the NHS is a frontline job they all
contribute to the frontline care. If you take 180 jobs out and you
will have an impact.”
He claimed any cuts to staff at hospitals in Kent would
stretch the service to breaking point.
31/01/13
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