Type
Internal restructuring
Country
United Kingdom
Region
East Midlands; Leicestershire; Rutland and Northamptonshire
Location of affected unit(s)
Sector
Health / Social Work
Human Health Services And Activities
Human Health Activities
86.1 - Hospital activities

900 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
9 February 2007
Employment effect (start)
9 February 2007
Foreseen end date
27 February 2009

Description

The three main hospitals in Leicester are to close up to eight wards and cut 900 jobs over two years to make savings of 90 million GBP, bosses have announced.

The chief executive of University Hospitals of Leicester Trust said cuts would mainly affect office staff, but 200 compulsory job cuts were expected.

Peter Reading said on Wednesday the trust would continue to provide excellent care. The savings will be made by patients spending less time in hospital. More people will be treated in the community under the new plans, he added. Savings were necessary to tackle a predicted deficit of 32 million GBP across health organisations in Leicestershire and further savings beyond this figure were required, said Mr Reading.

Savings of 35 million GBP had been made across the trust in the last 12 months but a redoubling of effort was necessary for the hospitals to become even more efficient, he said.

The trust runs Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital and Glenfield Hospital. Wholesale closure of wards would take place.

'We will over time close whole wards starting with those wards where the quality of the environment is less than we would want it to be,' he said. He added that staff leaving the service and retirements would account for most of the job losses.


Sources

  • 9 February 2007: BBC Website

Citation

Eurofound (2007), University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 64905, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/64905.