Concerns raised following 'deeply worrying' hospital trust announcement that £91m must be saved

Concerns for the future of South Tees Hospitals Trust have been raised after the announcement it must save £91m in three years.

Employees who work for the trust, which runs James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, were warned on Tuesday that their jobs may be at risk to “speed up the rate of savings” made.

The trust employs just under 9,000 workers, including 7,500 at James Cook and the Friarage hospital, in Northallerton. The remaining staff are community-based.

Since the news broke, worries have been aired about what the cuts will mean for hospital staff and patients.

“It is going to be a very difficult time for the trust and members,” said UNISON South Tees Health branch secretary Andrew Anderson.

“It is all about protecting as many jobs as possible now.

“Trying to save £91m is not going to be easy and it will have an impact on the quality of care that is delivered.

“What isn’t clear, and won’t be for some time, is how the trust will implement these cuts. That is where the difficulty will be.”

Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough, also raised concerns - labelling the news as “deeply worrying”.

“Following this announcement, I am seeking an urgent meeting with Tricia Hart the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive to explore these issues further,” he said.

“While I hear the assurances from the chief executive that the objective will be to maintain quality of services and safety, we need to hear much more on the detail of how that is going to be achieved.”

The trust has saved £66m since 2011 - the equivalent of around 4% of its annual budget. And in the current financial year, the trust says it is on course to save £21.9m. However, £40.1m needs to be saved next year and £29m in 2016/17.

In a statement to staff, the trust chief executive, Professor Tricia Hart, said she does not “underestimate just how difficult it will be to make these savings while at the same time protecting the quality and safety of services we provide.”

On the potential impact on staffing, she added: “With such huge savings having to be made staff will, understandably, be concerned about potential job losses. Around 62% of all our costs relate to workforce, so we have to make sure that we get the best value for money from the resources we invest in staff.

“We also have to ensure that our staff are working in the most efficient and effective structures as possible, helping us to continually drive out waste and duplication of effort.”

“To protect our frontline services we will continue to maintain a tight control on workforce numbers,” she added. “In some areas that may mean staff reductions as we adopt new ways of working and delivering quality services in line with what other trusts have been doing across the country, but any proposals to remove posts or change roles will be carried out in full consultation with staff.”