Fears over patient safety as Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust looks to axe 600 jobs

Fears over patient safety have been raised after it was revealed that 600 jobs will be lost at hospitals in parts of Essex to save money.

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust - which runs Southend, Basildon, Broomfield, St Peter's in Maldon and Braintree hospitals - is facing a £91m pound black hole in it's budget and said that "reducing headcount" would be necessary.

The trust is one of the largest acute trusts in the country and employs 16,000 members of staff.

It has a budget of around £1bn each year.

Bosses said in a letter to staff that "all posts" must be reviewed, "including clinical roles".

All current vacancies are being reviewed and no vacancies will be approved until that process is complete, they add.

The news has been criticised by campaign groups and union bosses, who say that patients could be put at risk.

UNISON Eastern regional organiser Sam Older said: "This vacancy freeze will ring alarm bells for already overworked staff.

"These 600 posts weren't created for the hell of it - they are there to provide healthcare to 1.2 million people in Essex.

"The trust was already struggling with rising demand. Slashing staff numbers, cancelling bank shifts and long waits to fill vacancies is only going to make this worse.

"And there's a clear risk that cutbacks will pose a threat to patient safety if staffing levels fall too low.

"MSEFT urgently needs the cash to cope with patient numbers and provide the health services people deserve."

Matthew Hopkins, the chief executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The Mid and South Essex healthcare system has a long history of financial difficulties and this year will be even more challenging for our trust.

"National oversight has increased and we are working as partners across the system to implement a range of measures to deliver financial recovery.

"As part of that work we are looking at our staffing models with a view to reducing the overall headcount by 600.

"The number of posts and roles has grown by 2,000 in recent years, so we need to look closely at roles that have been vacant for some time to see whether they are genuinely needed and represent value for money."

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