Here are the Staffing Figures @ Scarborough NHS Trust

04 August 2007   Latest staffing figures for Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare Trust reveal the workforce consists of:

278 Medical Staff
720 Nursing & Midwifery Staff
156 Allied Health Professionals
141 Scientific Staff
243 Healthcare Assistants
985 Non-Clinical Staff Employed Across the Trust.

There are a total of 2,523 staff . These figures include full and part-time professionals. The trust has an annual staff turnover of about 12 per cent.

It needs to make savings of £28.8m in order to clear its historic debt.

 04 August 2007 Campaigners and union officials today said some medical staff looked set to lose their jobs as it emerged up to 1,000 jobs could go as part of major cutbacks at a health trust.

Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare Trust, which manages hospitals in Bridlington, Scarborough, Malton and Whitby, announced last month plans to cut 600 posts over the next three years as part of a scheme to claw back a financial deficit of £28.8m.

But it has since been announced by unions the 600 posts refer to "whole-time equivalents", which means more than one member of staff could make up one post.

Papers presented to the trust's board of directors at its last meeting state there are 2,523 actual full and part-time staff employed by the trust. They also state the trust plans to reduce this number to about 1,500 by 2010, in order to save £15m.

The trust has not yet given any indication of where the cuts will be made or which services will suffer. However, board members indicated at last month's meeting the majority of axed posts would be non-clinical staff.

But union officials say medical staff will undoubtedly be affected by such large-scale cuts.

Ray Gray, regional officer for Unison, said: "We asked the trust where the cuts were going to fall and they said they would be across the board.

"Clearly this would affect doctors, nurses, everybody."

Campaigners said they were unhappy with the way the information had been presented, claiming the full extent of the cuts was not made clear to the public.

Patients today said they need answers from the trust.

Denis Smith, 85, of Bessingby Road, Bridlington, said: "Things are in a terrible state.

"People could have to travel to Scarborough or even Hull for treatment. There's no telling what might happen. People are worried."

Mick Pilling, chairman of the Save Bridlington Hospital Action Group, said: "The way they have gone about this has been below the belt. It is stealth tactics. They have got to save this money by hook or by crook and patients will suffer.

"Bridlington Hospital has already lost services and could lose more. It is a total and utter disgrace."

A spokeswoman for the trust today said: "Nothing has changed and the trust is working with staff, trade unions and others on the details of the financial strategy. These plans will be taken to the next board meeting and speculation in the meantime is unhelpful."

The trust said compulsory redundancies would be a last resort and it hoped the workforce would be reduced by "natural wastage", meaning staff who leave will not be replaced.

But Mr Gray said: "They are not going to lose all those staff through natural wastage. Even if they did manage to cut that figure without resorting to compulsory redundancies, there are great concerns about staff working without almost 50 per cent of the existing workforce and the knock-on effect of that."

The trust is expected to discuss more detailed plans at its next board meeting on September 11. Any changes to services that arose from the cuts would have to go to public consultation.

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Scarborough and NE Yorks Healthcare Trust

www.scarborough.nhs.uk