Thousands of health jobs under threat

The National Health Service is facing an escalating jobs crisis.

To date trusts in England have announced more than 7,000 job cuts, with thousands more expected as they attempt to meet the government’s health service reforms.

Unions representing nurses and health workers have called for urgent talks with health secretary Patricia Hewitt, in order to bring a halt to the redundancies.

Karen Jennings, head of health at public services union UNISON, called on the government to “slow down and take stock” of its patient services programme.

“We fear that many more redundancies are in the pipeline, which will have an inevitable impact on patient care,” she said. “The government must take action to stop this jobs cull.”

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also warned that NHS deficits were compromising patient care and is also expecting more job cuts.

RCN general secretary Dr Beverly Malone will hand a petition to prime minister Tony Blair on 11 May and head a rally at Westminster to put pressure on the government to safeguard jobs.

“We have been challenging the government on deficits since early last year, but they are in denial about the scale and the impact of deficit-driven cuts,” she said. “The results are there for all to see — patients are suffering and nurses are losing their jobs.”