40 NHS managers face axe as cuts hit

HEALTH chiefs plan to axe 40 management posts at a Yorkshire NHS trust as part of a £5m cuts programme that will see dozens more jobs lost.

NHS Wakefield District has begun a review to examine how it can save 1.4m in management costs before the end of March – putting 42 positions in jeopardy.

And more job losses will be needed to save a further 3.4m over the following two years as part of a Government drive to slash management costs by more than 40 per cent in primary care trusts (PCTs) across the country.

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The move pre-dates a controversial decision to disband PCTs altogether by 2013 and hand their powers to groups of GPs who will instead decide how NHS money is spent.

Health chiefs in Wakefield have asked staff to volunteer for redundancy or early retirement and will also leave vacant posts empty as part of the cost-saving programme but have not ruled out compulsory redundancies.

They calculate the programme will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Any departures costing more than 50,000 will be referred for regional approval.

The approach was agreed by the board at a private meeting in June. Details have been obtained by the Yorkshire Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Alan Wittrick, chief executive of NHS Wakefield District, said other cost savings were also being sought as part of the recently-announced changes.

"In line with many other NHS organisations, we have to achieve a total of over 40 per cent savings in our management costs over the next three years," he said.

"Unfortunately this means that savings in our workforce costs are unavoidable. We are already working through a process of voluntary and, potentially, compulsory redundancies with our staff."

The cuts are the latest at PCTs across the region that will see more than 1,000 bureaucrats axed. More than 130 managers will leave NHS Leeds over the next three years.

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Hundreds of other health jobs around Wakefield are also in jeopardy as local hospitals plan to cut costs by 55m in the next two years as part of a radical redesign of services – including more than 60 nursing staff caring for the elderly.

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