Dudley hospital jobs at risk in £12m cuts
Jobs are at risk at Dudley's hospital trust as part of a widespread review of non-clinical posts as it looks to save up to £12 million.
Bosses are reviewing the positions of temporary staff, those on fixed-term contracts, and bank and agency workers.
They are also looking at reducing overtime and recruitment to non-clinical vacancies to claw back costs.
Bosses are battling to balance the books as they need to save up to £12 million this year in the wake of Government funding cuts. Chief executive Paula Clark said the review would cover posts which were 'the furthest away from frontline patient care'. It is not known yet how many jobs could be at risk.
A 'mutually agreed resignation scheme' has been launched, which will continue throughout September, which means workers can leave their posts in return for a set severance payment.
Paula Clark, chief executive of Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital, said: "In common with all NHS trusts in England we are doing everything we can to meet the government's four per cent efficiency savings while at the same time providing high quality patient care. Pay is our biggest cost and so we are looking at ways of reducing staffing while, at the same time, protecting permanent staff employed by the Trust.
"We do not know until the review process is complete what areas will be affected. When we know more detail, we will be talking to individual areas within the Trust and to those staff who may be affected."
Last year, dozens of canteen and laundry workers at Russells Hall Hospital were saved from redundancy. Around 30 positions had been feared at risk
while up to 14 people had faced the threat of redundancy due to the axing of the uniform cleaning service. But after negotiations no jobs were lost.
