NHS jobs to be axed as part of massive healthcare trust merger
Bosses insist move will lead to more joined-up care plans
Richard Castle
NHS jobs are being axed as part of a major merger involving a healthcare trust covering Burton and Uttoxeter.
Bosses at the newly-formed Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust expect to keep redundancies below 40 after two major NHS bodies merged.
All the under-threat jobs are office roles and no front-line health workers, such as nurses and carers, will lose their roles.
Union bosses say most of the workers at risk are based at the trust's bases in Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
It comes as part of the merger of South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Partnership NHS Trust.
Trust workforce boss Greg Moores said: "As part of the transaction both trusts carried out a formal HR process, working with our staff and their representatives, to shape the proposed corporate workforce structures for the new organisation. This process is still ongoing.
Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent NHS Partnership Trust and South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have merged to become Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Pictured (from left) are: Hannah Dow, Staff Nurse, Steve Martin, Ward Manager; Neil Carr, Chief Executive of MPFT and Hollie Jones, Health Care Support Worker. (Image: Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust)
"Currently we are expecting to make less than 40 redundancies, with the vast majority of these coming through a voluntary process.
"We are continuing to work with staff and their representatives to identify redeployment opportunities for any staff compulsorily displaced as a result of the transaction, including working with our partners across the health and social care economy.
"We are offering a range of support options to staff, and continue to work closely with our recognised trade unions."
UNISON union branch secretary Jenny Harvey said: "We're obviously concerned about any job losses and are working hard with management to minimise compulsory redundancies.
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"There have already been some voluntary redundancies and we're hopeful compulsory losses will be relatively low. The process will take a couple of months.
"It's important to have the appropriate resources in corporate roles, but we're confident this won't affect services and our role is to look after members who may be losing their jobs."
The new trust delivers community health care, mental health services and social care - including services for those with mental and physical disabilities and disability care.
Employing 8,500 workers, it is one of the biggest bodies of its type in the UK.
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Patients are being assured there will be no "big bang" change to their service and their carers will not change.
Chief executive Neil Carr said: "This is a hugely exciting day for health and social care in this area as we take this momentous step on the journey to creating fully integrated pathways of care for the communities we serve.
"Research shows that if you have a long-term health condition you are more likely to suffer from poor mental health as well.
"By integrating physical and mental health, as well as social care, we can deliver a much more streamlined journey for our patients and achieve better outcomes."