HEALTH chiefs in Winchester have backed plans to axe around 150 jobs and close hospital wards in a bid to balance the books.

The directors of Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare Trust and Mid-Hampshire Primary Care Trust this week agreed a drastic plan aimed at saving a mammoth £14m by April 2006.

Together, the trusts employ about 3,000 people and run sites including Winchester's Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

Ward-based nurses could be made redundant as 75 surgical and medical beds, possibly three whole wards, may close.

Chris Evennett, joint chief executive of both trusts, said: "We struggle year on year to balance the books with considerable brokerage from the strategic health authority in financial loans.

"We can't rely on that in future. We have got to get our house in order and reduce the underlying deficit."

Over the last year, the hospital trust has lost a chief executive, two finance directors, two medical directors and a director of nursing.

Winchester and Eastleigh Trust says it currently has a £4m deficit while the primary care trust still expects to be £2.186m in the red at the end of the financial year.

Despite this, they are spending £9.5m a year more than they have funding, a report warned.

Mr Evennett plans to cut costs across the board by five per cent, including staffing which takes up about 75 per cent of the total budget.

Decisions on job cuts will be made in April after consultation with trade union representatives.

Compulsory redundancies have not been ruled out, but nurses and other clinical staff are likely to be redeployed locally.

In a report to the board, it was estimated that £4.5m could be saved by cutting 150 jobs, assuming an average salary of £30,000.

Closing 75 hospital beds, between two to three wards, would save £1.8m a year.

That would leave 435 beds at the RHCH and Andover War Memorial Hospital.

In the board report, managers said they aimed to maintain services with fewer staff and beds through "efficiency measures".

Tough new targets have been set for the coming year, including 1,000 fewer hospital admissions compared to last year, 2,000 fewer follow-up outpatient attendances, and reducing bed blocking to 10 beds compared to 60 to 80.

Changes in clinical practise mean fewer beds are needed. A £7m new day case treatment centre due to open in July will mean more day or outpatient cases and reduce the need for overnight stays.

Moves to reduce bed blocking, for example by providing more nursing home beds, will also free-up beds as will sharing a surgical service with Southampton.

But Winchester MP Mark Oaten said: "I find it unbelievable, knowing the staffing pressures at the hospital, it can manage with any fewer staff. I am deeply concerned."

Doug Smith, secretary of the joint trade union, an umbrella organisation of 11 bodies at the RHCH, said: "Year on year we are asked to save, save, save and our members have had enough.

"The deficit seems to be getting bigger each year and it is impossible to achieve these figures.

"Losing 75 beds will definitely impact on services."