BMA fights to stop SAS surgery redundancies
30 January 2013
The BMA is working to prevent six redundancies at an NHS trust where talks avoided earlier medical job cuts.
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has begun consulting on plans to make redundant three-quarters of its staff, associate specialist and specialty doctor posts in general surgery.
BMA negotiations with the trust saved all but one of 14 earlier proposed redundancies, which included 10 doctors working across oral maxillofacial surgery, ENT and gynaecology and four dentists. The one redundancy was voluntary.
However, a further six SAS posts in general surgery — out of a total of eight such jobs — have been put at risk in another round of redundancies.
The trust says the redundancies are part of cost-cutting measures triggered by a drop in hospital activity.
Trust local negotiating committee chair Andrew Rowland said the LNC had spent 10 months engaged in the last consultation that had resulted in no compulsory redundancies, and it would use the experience to work on the current situation.
He said: ‘The learning points from the previous redundancy consultation process will be invaluable in bringing this new consultation to a satisfactory conclusion.’
The consultation will run until February 18.