Minister Mike O’Brien warns health chiefs over impact of job cuts

Health Minister Mike O’Brien said quality of care had to be the priority when health chiefs were trying to “manage their budgets”.

He spoke out yesterday in the House of Commons after being challenged by Romsey MP Sandra Gidley over plans by Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust to slash hundreds of posts during the next five years.

As exclusively revealed in yesterday’s Daily Echo up to 1,400 jobs could be axed at Southampton General, Princess Anne and Countess Mountbatten House hospice, as part of a £100m cost cutting drive.

A first wave of 600 jobs, mostly in administrative and managerial areas, will go over the next two years while a further 800 could be scrapped in the next three to four years. Cutbacks among frontline staff including doctors and nurses have not been ruled out.

Speaking in parliament, Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Sandra Gidley said: “There are no guarantees that these are administrative posts. Is this what is meant by protecting frontline services?”

Mr O’Brien replied: “As far as Southampton is concerned it is important that health trusts manage their budgets. It’s also important that they prioritise the quality of care for patients and also ensure that patient safety comes first, so in managing their budgets they will have to do that.”

Hospital bosses say the proposed savings are necessary due to a freeze in their £500m annual funding despite increasing patient demand, rising wage bills and spiralling drug costs.

The trust’s financial situation has been made worse after it received less money than expected during this financial year for all the patient care it provides from its commissioners – NHS Southampton and NHS Hampshire – who pay for most patient services, director of finance Alastair Matthews told board members yesterday.

Future funding looks set to be cut as NHS Southampton and NHS Hampshire reduce the amount of money they spend on hospitals and develop new community based services instead.

Consequently, hospital managers want to reduce the number of patients they see and the amount of work they undertake.

Hospital managers plan to cut the number of outpatient clinics and reduce the amount of inpatient capacity in some specialities, although exact details have yet to be finalised.

They claim new ways of working, such as the introduction of paperless outpatient appointments, a direct electronic booking in system for patients, as well as GPs booking more outpatient appointments, would mean that fewer hospital staff were needed.

There is also expected to be some staff re-organisation with existing workers having to take on extra responsibilities.

Trust chief executive Mark Hackett said: “One of the things we will be doing is reducing the number of appointments our patients need to attend at the hospital. We can do this by making sure that every time they come in we have the test results, notes and staff available to make that appointment effective in moving their treatment forward.”

Mrs Gidley added: “Every admin job has an impact on frontline staff. There will be a greater bureaucratic burden on doctors and nurses. They will end up doing more paperwork than caring for patients.”

Labour Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead, said: “The priority has to be frontline care for patients which may well be improved as a result of overall changes in how services are delivered. What the hospital appears to be reacting to is changes in how patient needs are being planned increasingly away from hospitals themselves and also to anticipate to some extent whether there will be cost pressures resulting from a future lower level of income because of these changes.”

Councillor Jeremy Moulton, the prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Southampton Test said: “I will be seeking assurances that frontline patient care would not be adversely affected by the changes.

“The scale of the job numbers is very worrying for local people particularly in the current economic climate.”