£18m wage cut for mid-Yorkshire NHS Trust

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Up to 1,100 NHS jobs are to be axed at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust, in a bid to cut the pay bill by £18m.

The trust, which covers Dewsbury and Wakefield, has been making cuts for the past two years.

It was told it had overspent by £30m two years ago and had halved its deficit, down to £14.6m for 2005/06.

The trust plans to scale down staff numbers over the next five years.

A trust spokesman said yesterday that redundancies could not be ruled out.

Trust management said it also wanted to cut back the amount spent on equipment while treating more patients in less time.

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust spokesman said, ‘We do need to reduce our pay bill by £18m over the next two years.

‘We anticipate being able to achieve this without the need to make large-scale redundancies.

‘However, we have been open that we cannot rule out redundancies at this stage and we are working with staff to keep them to a minimum.’

• Trade unionists and residents in Haringey, north London will be marching through the borough on Saturday 24th June against planned NHS cuts.

They will be marching under the slogan: ‘Save St Ann’s Hospital, stop NHS cuts in Haringey.’

Haringey Primary Care Trust (PCT) has announced plans to make £11m in cuts, including a number of redundancies and a reduction in services at St Ann’s Hospital and across the borough.

Campaigners warn that the PCT plans mean cuts in family planning services, cuts in acute hospital care (including the closure of a ward for the elderly), community dentistry services and cuts in mental health support.

The trust also plans to charge patients for replacement digital hearing aids.

The march assembles at 11am opposite Haringey Civic Centre at 11am on Saturday June 24th before setting off for a rally in Chestnuts Park opposite St Ann’s Hospital.