NEARLY 200 employees at Hinchingbrooke Hospital – the majority being nurses – now been told by letter that their jobs are at risk in a bid to cut the payroll by 10 per cent. This is the first time in the hospital s 22-year history that compulsory redundan

NEARLY 200 employees at Hinchingbrooke Hospital - the majority being nurses - now been told by letter that their jobs are at risk in a bid to cut the payroll by 10 per cent.

This is the first time in the hospital's 22-year history that compulsory redundancies have been made, and yesterday it confirmed that 197 staff jobs were at risk, with the equivalent of 41.37 posts set go in the first round of redundancies.

Of those redundant posts to be confirmed, 7.37 will be nurses, two corporate office employees, seven employees on rotational posts, four service improvement managers, one NVQ team employee, three NHS professionals office staff, one specialist secretary, 13 theatre nurses, two obstetrics and gynaecology consultants and one acute coronary syndrome nurse.

Of the other jobs at risk, 65 of them are nurses who merged with Beech Ward when Rowan Ward closed, 95 theatre nurses and 13 obstetrics and gynaecology consultants.

A consultant at the hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Hunts Post: "Everyone at the hospital is pretty bleak as you can imagine, as we have all been working very hard to support the trust and it seems like the end of the line now. The trust's way out seems to be to make staff redundant and for most of us that fact has hit home with these letters."

The hospital has employed management consultants KPMG at a cost of £250,000 to help them save money in a bid to pay off its £6.5million debt.

Chief executive Douglas Pattison said: "We have done our utmost to avoid this and we hoped it would never be necessary. It is not a decision that has been taken lightly and, if there were anyway of avoiding this measure, we would have done so.

"We knew it will involve significant changes for many people and that will be very stressful for all those affected. It is our aim to ensure that we continue to provide top quality care to our patients and this remains our top priority."

Those staff whose posts will be made redundant will receive a letter confirming this in the week beginning August 7.

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