Sixteen staff at Nottingham's hospitals have lost their jobs as part of plans to fill a financial black hole. Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, which runs Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, put dozens of staff at risk of redundancy in April in an effort to tackle a £104.5 million shortfall.
NUH confirmed 16 staff - almost all of those told to move - decided to take redundancy. Several other teams, including procurement and taxation, are due to be transferred by April 1 to SBS, a company jointly run by the Department of Health and the French IT services firm Sopra Steria. In a statement, the group, which includes the city's three MPs, Rushcliffe's James Naish and Gedling's Michael Payne, said: "There is, in our view, an incompatibility between the aims of private companies and the aims of the NHS. A company's primary concern is its shareholders, not the patients.
Describing the morale of people within the finance department, Unison regional organiser Rachel Perry-Doyle said "It's mixed, people are stressed and worried about their own situation. People are very angry and don't think it's been dealt with very well."