AT LEAST 21,000 NHS jobs will be cut at English health trusts by 2028 after they ran a combined £1.1 billion annual budget deficit last year, union research published today shows.
The swingeing cuts were revealed by trusts responding to freedom of information requests by researchers for Unison’s new Less Fit for the Future report.
They come on top of major job losses at NHS England and integrated care boards announced last year, when NHS Providers ran up a combined deficit of more than £1.1bn.
The union blamed the projected job losses on the government’s demands that budgets break even from this year.
Unison head of health Helga Pile said: “The NHS is being asked to transform how care is delivered, with more community services and technology. But none of this is possible without the staff to make it happen.
Unison’s research reveals trusts are planning cuts to at least 3,600 clinical roles as well as support post reductions through vacancy freezes, restructuring and reduced use of agency workers. But the union warns the true scale of workforce reductions is likely to be significantly higher as not all trusts were able to provide full workforce data in response to its information requests.
A separate Unison workforce survey of almost 20,000 NHS staff showed that 65 per cent say job cuts have increased their workload. The same number reported rising stress levels, with 47 per cent of staff reporting that systems and processes are slower following job cuts or vacancy freezes.
The union has called on the government to ensure NHS organisations are supported to expand their workforces to meet demand.
Keep Our NHS Public co-chair Dr Tony O’Sullivan told the Morning Star: “This report highlights the catastrophic impact of 15 years of Tory austerity and Labour’s refusal to invest sufficiently to restore the NHS.
“NHS staff are its bedrock. Chop posts, demoralise and underpay staff and you actively prevent NHS restoration.
“[Health Secretary] Wes Streeting’s mantras — ‘bring the best to the rest,’ ‘hospital to community,’ ‘analogue to digital’ etc — are meaningless without a strong workforce willing and able to meet the challenges.
“Invest in staff for the future of the NHS, not the likes of Palantir, not outsourcing to private cataract companies and other profit-taking corporations.”
The Department for Health was contacted for comment.
