St Mary's Hospital.
MORE than 600 health jobs are set to be axed as bosses at NHS Isle of Wight struggle to plug a massive £40 million black hole in their finances brought about by government spending cuts.
The jobs bombshell was dropped by NHS Isle of Wight chief executive, Kevin Flynn.
Speaking exclusively to the County Press, he revealed the equivalent of between 150 and 170 posts a year are set to go over the next four years as heath chiefs fight to bring down costs.
Mr Flynn said many of the jobs would be lost through natural wastage but he could not rule out compulsory redundancies if the savings could not be found. Other measures to reduce staffing costs will include clamping down on hours worked by staff as well as voluntary redundancy and early retirement.
Mr Flynn blamed the planned job losses on a reduction in the amount of money the government gives to the Island to pay for services. However, he pledged frontline services would not be affected by the cuts.
"The patient will not notice any difference or a decline in quality."
A plan for the future shape of the workforce is due to be published by managers in the next few weeks.
Andy Straker, Unison regional organiser, said the Island would struggle to absorb the job losses following the Isle of Wight Council announcements it would be shedding more than 500 jobs.
• A purpose-built helipad to transfer badly injured patients to the mainland via air ambulance could be built on the Island.
Part of the cash to pay for the estimated costs of the £1.2 million helipad would come from a mix of fundraising on the Isle of Wight and the mainland.
• For the full story see the Friday, March 4, County Press.
Reporter: davidn@iwcpmail.co.uk