150 jobs to go at SaTH as hospitals seek to save £41.4million

An acute hospitals trust in Shropshire says it will keep compulsory redundancies as a “last resort” as it seeks to lose 150 jobs.

The Shrewsbury & Telford Hospitals NHS Trust is rejigging its workforce and is ‘working to achieve’ £41.4million in ‘efficiencies’ by the end of the financial year.

While SaTH is investing in more than 260 additional roles in areas “critical to patient safety” the net number of employees on the books will reduce by 150 posts.

The trust employs just below 8,000 people and is one of Shropshire’s biggest single employers.

Jo Williams, SaTH’s Chief Executive said chiefs are “doing all we can to retain our skilled and experienced staff”.

She spoke of it being a “worrying time” for staff and doing “everything we can to support them.

She said: “Our priority is delivering safe services for our patients.

“To release investment for more modern tools and more services in the community, we need to work differently and stay within our budget.

“This means having the right staff, with the right skills, in the right places to provide excellent care for patients and value for taxpayers. We are also continuing to invest in additional roles.”

The chief executive added: “Everyone is valued, and we are doing all we can to retain our skilled and experienced staff.

“We will continue our work to eliminate agency spend, review all vacancies and promote new skills, learning and flexible working opportunities. Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort, and we aim to keep these as small as possible.

“We know this is a worrying time for some staff and we are committed to doing everything we can to support them through these changes. We would like to thank our staff for everything they are doing to support our patients, and each other.”

Every month some 60 people leave the trust naturally and the trust says it will be offering more flexible working, can offer redeployment and new skills.

SaTH says it had reduced agency spend by 60 per cent.

For the financial year SaTH has a planned budget deficit of £45.1million and is working to achieve £41.4 million through its Cost Improvement Programme.