Redundancies may include IT staff says Coventry PCT

Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust cannot guarantee that IT staff will be immune from redundancies following yesterday’s announcement confirming that up to 90 staff will be made redundant by the PCT.

In a statement, the trust announced: “The likely redundancies will be across a range of areas and will include both primary and community care clinical posts alongside corporate staff.”

A spokesperson confirmed to E-Health Insider Primary Care: “Staff working in IT and other corporate functions destined for a shared services organisation to cover three NHS organisations in Coventry and Warwickshire are not exempt from this redundancy process.”

The trust merged with South Warwickshire and North Warwickshire to become the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust on 1 October and is moving its finance, estates, information and IT and HR teams to its new headquarters in Warwickshire.

The spokesperson added: “Exact details of posts at risk are not yet known. The PCT is actively exploring alternatives for staff such as voluntary redundancy or redeployment; however compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out and the PCT is committed to keeping these to a minimum.”

The PCT has reported a year-to-date overspend of £4.2m and claim that they are at a significant risk of overspending by £10.7m by the end of this year.

Stephen Jones, joint chief executive said: “The board and senior management team recognise that these are extremely difficult decisions and will do everything to ensure the process is transparent and fair. We understand the anxiety and uncertainty that this announcement will have on our staff, and aim to conclude this process as quickly as possible.”

The PCT insist that patient care will not be affected and will be consulting with the Joint Staff Committee and trade unions before offering any redundancies.