Debt-hit trust aims for more cuts

The trust has managed to cut about 500 posts so far

A debt-hit hospital trust says it has cut 500 of the 720 jobs it needs to lose in order to save £16m during the current financial year.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said only 12 people had been made compulsorily redundant, but it was looking to cut 220 more posts.

It said it would work hard to keep compulsory redundancies to a minimum.

Those posts already scrapped had largely been achieved through unfilled vacancies and redeployment, it added.

'Careful management'

The trust is responsible for the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, the Alexandra Hospital at Redditch and Kidderminster Hospital.

Jeff Crawshaw, director of human resources, said: "Through careful management of vacancies and turnover, which runs at about 10% per year, it has been possible to reduce jobs without having to consider large scale redundancies.

"(The Trust) still has some way to go to make the full reduction and will be reviewing its position as part of its financial planning for the new financial year which begins on the 1 April 2007."

He added that managers had been working with trade unions to manage the cuts "sensitively" and stressed that safe clinical services remained the priority.