NHS trusts in England are planning to cut clinical and non-clinical jobs as they attempt to balance the books to wipe out a £7bn financial shortfall.
A survey by NHS Providers said that while hospitals and services in mental health, community and ambulance provision are determined to protect patient safety, its research reveals that services will be scaled back and jobs cut.
With the NHS looking to recover a predicted financial shortfall that reached nearly £7bn this year, trusts have been asked to reduce running costs while improving performance.
NHS job cuts in England
Resident doctors to ballot for strike action
NHS worker awarded £29k after Darth Vader comparison
‘Inconsistent immigration policy since Brexit is damaging the NHS’
More than a third (37%) said their organisation is cutting clinical posts, with a further 40% considering this.
With trusts told to halve corporate cost growth, 86% of trust leaders said their organisation is going to have to cut posts in non-clinical teams, such as HR, finance, estates, digital and communications.
A number of trusts are aiming to cut 500 posts or more, with one trust planning to cut around 1,000 jobs.
Nearly half of trust leaders (47%) surveyed warned they are scaling back services, with a further 43% considering this option. Virtual wards, rehabilitation centres, talking therapies and diabetes services for young people are amongst services identified at risk.
With further reductions to temporary staffing costs (91%) and recruitment freezes (85%) also on the cards, the impact of these changes on front-line teams is a major concern for trust leaders.
Almost all (94%) said the steps needed to deliver financial plans would have a negative impact on staff wellbeing and culture at a time when morale, burnout and vacancies are taking their toll and disquiet over pay and conditions is increasing.
The survey by NHS Providers also found:
- 26% said they will need to close some services, with a further 55% considering this
- 45% are moderately or extremely concerned their actions will compromise patient experience
- 61% said patient experience, work to address health inequalities (60%) and access to timely care (57%) were most at risk of being impacted
- 88% said they don’t have enough funding to invest in ill-health prevention.
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Let’s also be clear: cuts have consequences. NHS trusts face competing priorities of improving services for patients and boosting performance while trying to balance the books with ever-tighter budgets. National leaders must appreciate that makes a hard job even harder.
“It’s really worrying to hear trust leaders tell us highly valued staff and services, including vital work to address health inequalities and prevention, could be among the early casualties of budget cuts. These decisions are never taken lightly and will always be a last resort.
“They’re committed to working with the government to build a better health service but fear immediate financial pressures could undermine plans to transform the NHS.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We have underlined the need for trusts to cut bureaucracy to invest even further in the front line so we can support hard-working staff and deliver a better service for patients and taxpayers’ money.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
HR opportunities in Healthcare on Personnel Today
Browse more HR opportunities in healthcare
