Job cuts feared at Rotherham Hospital

Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust is looking to cut the equivalent of 30 full-time staff and has warned 77 employees that they are “at risk” of compulsory redundancy.

The jobs are to be cut from all departments, including nursing and clinical staff, the hospital confirmed.

A further 100 posts, which are either vacant or filled by temporary workers, will be cut by Sunday, April 1.

Bosses said that the number of jobs at risk might be reduced if they received enough applications for voluntary redundancy but warned that voluntary redundancy alone”would not deliver the required savings and some compulsory redundancies would be needed.

Health workers’ union UNISON, which said it would fight compulsory redundancies, was meeting this week to decide what action to call in protest at the cuts.

The union claims that according to the trust proposals the number of jobs could be closer to 150 when unfilled vacancies and further planned savings of £5 million are taken in account.

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Hospital managers, who have to save £14 million in the next financial year, claim the changes will protect frontline services and shelter patients from the impact of budget cuts.

The trust said it had considered a full range of options before agreeing that the proposed restructures were consulted on and a compulsory redundancy programme was the most appropriate solution.

A structured approach will be taken to reducing staff numbers, including using natural staff turnover - with a significant number of posts only recruited on a temporary basis over the last 12 months.

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