Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust yesterday announced plans to axe 430 jobs as part of a cost-cutting plan aimed at saving £84m in the next three years.
A Royal College of Nursing spokeswoman blamed the government.
She said: ‘This is not about mismanagement or staff not working hard enough, it’s purely a government target.
‘The government is to blame for this. They haven’t just shifted the goalposts, they’ve moved the turf.’
Chief executive, Neil McKay, said it was hoped the cuts could be met through leaving vacant posts unfilled. There were no current plans for redundancies but they could not be ruled out.
McKay said the cuts had to be made because of an increased savings requirement by the Department of Health and the new national Payment by Results system.
He said the trust needed to save £84m over the next three years and £25m of this in 2006/7, which represented 3.5 per cent of the total budget.
McKay said: ‘For the first time since the trust was formed, this balanced position has been achieved without any external financial assistance – a significant achievement of which we are very proud.
‘However, changes to national policy mean we go into this new financial year facing a significant challenge.’
