City Hospitals Sunderland Foundation Trust

500 jobs
Number of planned job losses

Announcement Date

26 July 2006

Employment effect (start)

Foreseen end date

Description

City Hospitals Sunderland Foundation Trust said it had to cut 10% of its 5,000 workforce to clear a debt of £5m. The trust, which runs Sunderland Royal Hospital, Ryhope General and Monkwearmouth Hospital, also wants to save £20m over the next few years. It said it hoped the jobs could be shed through "natural wastage".

Chief executive of the trust, Ken Bremner, said losing jobs was a major concern, but necessary to save money over the next three years. He said: 'Our priority is to regain financial stability for the next step in the development of the trust. We have achieved the levels of service we have today because of the quality of our staff and we understand that any job lost is a major cause for concern.'

Mr Bremner said the last few years had been difficult for the trust, with debts rising from £2.7m in 2003/4 to £4.9m in 2005/6. He also said demand for beds was dropping, with more patients being treated in the community.

Paul Summers, regional officer for the health union Unison, said the move was a 'kick in the teeth'. He said: 'We are shocked to hear of the scale of potential job losses and cost cutting - particularly since only two years ago many temporary jobs were lost to help balance the books. Even if the staff cuts are achieved by what the trust calls 'natural wastage' these are still real jobs and getting rid of them will have an unavoidable impact on services. Our members have been working hard to achieve government targets and this is a real kick in the teeth.'

Sources

• 26 July 2006: BBC Website