Hundreds of jobs to be cut across three hospitals

A total of 260 jobs are set to be cut across three West Yorkshire hospitals.

The Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, which runs Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, as well as Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals, said the cuts would be met through a voluntary redundancy scheme.

The job losses, which were first reported by the Wakefield Express, were part of a drive to save £57m this financial year, the trust said.

A spokesperson said that patient safety would be "at the heart" of its decision-making on whether or not to approve individual applications.

Draft minutes from a trust board meeting, which took place on 10 September, said that 468 applications for voluntary redundancy had been received from staff as part of the second phase of the scheme.

The minutes said that 58 of those applications had been approved by the trust and NHS England, while a "small number" of applicants had subsequently withdrawn from the process.

A total of 130 applications had been placed on a "deferred list" where "further information is required".

A trust spokesperson said: "When assessing any application, our primary consideration is any potential impact on patient safety. That is at the heart of our decision whether to approve or reject applications.

"We've worked hard to ensure colleagues have been well informed when making a decision of whether to apply and supported them as much as possible through the process."

The trust employs 10,000 staff, according to its website.

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