Hospital announces 200 job cuts

Staff at St Richard's were told about the job losses on Wednesday

Another 200 NHS jobs are to be lost as an overspent health trust in West Sussex tries to balance its books.

Staff at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester were told on Wednesday that 10% of the workforce would go over the next three years.

The Royal West Sussex NHS Trust said it would try to keep redundancies to a minimum but some may be necessary if other jobs cannot be found for staff.

The trust has overspent by a total of £40m and had a £14m deficit last year.

"It has been fairly well documented that the trust has had financial problems going back over five years," said chief executive Andrew Liles.

"We will lose £12m-£14m this coming year if we carry on as we are, which isn't an option."

Clinical reputation

It is not known how many doctors' and nurses' jobs will go, but BBC South Today's health correspondent David Fenton said it was believed most of the cuts would be in management and administration.

Mr Liles said the trust had been working for three months on its "Turnaround Plan" and had identified £8.8m savings so far, which would not affect patient care.

"We have an excellent clinical reputation and nothing in this Turnaround Plan will jeopardise that," he said.

The St Richard's cuts are the latest to affect hospitals in the South East, where more than 1,000 job losses have been announced in the last two months.

• Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages Crawley Hospital and East Surrey Hospital, has said 400 jobs will go.

• East Sussex NHS Hospitals Trust, which runs the Conquest Hospital in Hastings and Eastbourne District General, has axed up to 250 jobs

• Up to 160 jobs are to go at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent.

• Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust plans to lose 325 jobs.

• East Kent Hospitals Trust warned of possible cuts to claw back a £35m deficit