UP TO 800 jobs could go at four hospitals in Greater Manchester.

Doctors and nurses could face the axe in massive cuts at the Pennine Acute Trust which runs North Manchester General, Rochdale Infirmary, the Royal Oldham Hospital, and Fairfield Hospital at Bury.

The losses are likely to hit all departments as bosses struggle with a é21m debt. Staff were being briefed today.

Jeanine Dyson, regional representative for the Royal College of Nursing said: "This has left staff stunned and devastated. We have grave concerns for patient care.

"We have repeatedly received reassurances from trust managers about Pennine's financial health. There has been no warning and no consultation about the job losses."

Stephanie Thomas, head of health for Unison in the north west said: "This many cuts are bound to include frontline staff which means beds and probably wards will close, we fear this will put lives at risk."

Bosses at the trust, - the second largest in the country - admitted they could not rule out compulsory redundancies.

The figure of 800 job losses equates to one in 11 among the 9,000 workforce. But health chiefs stressed that it will be posts rather than individuals they will be looking at and it will not necessarily mean the sack for such a large number of people.

The decision is due to be taken at a meeting of the trust board next Tuesday and a spokesman said that, the sake of staff, the review of services would be finished in "weeks rather than months".

Challenge

Acting Pennine chief executive Bob Chadwick said: "The NHS is facing a very tough financial agenda, and our trust faces the same issues. We need to ensure that we can meet this challenge. We will be working hard to increase our efficiency and minimise the impact on both staff and services, through a review of potential work to address the issues.

"For example, we would want to improve on our current theatre usage.

"Our current estimates are that up to 800 posts may have to be lost - that isn't necessarily jobs because we have to consider what other measures we can take first, such as freezes on unnecessary recruitment, and reviewing the use of temporary staff. We will be working hard to minimise the number of posts through a range of means, but we cannot rule out compulsory redundancies."

The board will set its budget for the financial year - which began last month - on Tuesday. It is facing a é28.3 m shortfall but é7m of government grants for this year bring it down to é21.3m. Among other ways of saving money being considered are increasing day surgery rates, minimising the use of temporary staff, freezing recruitment, and not replacing staff when they leave.

The trust's former chief executive Chris Appelby was given a é475,000 pay out when he quit in March after pressure from Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. He had been under pressure to go since the trust's medics held a vote of no confidence into his management last summer.

Standards

An independent report by Sir George Alberti, a former president of the Royal College of Physicians, found a "lethal mixture" of suspect leadership styles and pressure to improve standards had soured relations between doctors and managers.

Ms Thomas said: "This raises questions about why the former chief executive, who oversaw these problems, received such a large pay out."

David Heyes, Labour MP for Ashton under Lyne, who asked the health secretary to remove former trust managers, said: "This is deeply shocking, but sadly not surprising.

"This has borne out all my worst fears about the trust.

"I'm furious. An independent report called for the chair and chief executive to go and now that they have we are left with a huge problem."

He was waiting to meet with trust managers today before deciding what action to take.

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