"No Front-Line Roles Will Be Cut" — MP On At-Risk Hospital Jobs

An Island MP has said “no front-line roles” will be cut at St Mary’s Hospital after meeting with unions and the Isle of Wight NHS Trust.

Richard Quigley, Labour MP for Isle of Wight West, spoke out following news that around ten per cent of whole time equivalent (WTE) jobs within the Trust are at risk as part of ‘cost improvement plans’.

The health care provider said ‘workforce reduction’ was a ‘key aspect’ of its operating plan for 2025/26 in its March board papers.

A total of 249 roles have been selected for cutbacks out of 2,470 WTE roles across substantive, bank and agency staff groups at St Mary’s Hospital, equivalent to a saving of

£10.8 million.

Mr Quigley told the press:

“I spoke to Unison and the Trust last week, no job losses are confirmed.

"Should any be made, it will be in back-office functions, removing duplication. No front-line roles will be cut.

“The reorganisation of the NHS is focused on improving care and outcomes and removing bureaucracy that slow the system down. Our focus is reducing waiting times and improving health.

“I’ll keep in close contact with Unison and the trust as more information becomes available.”

His comments follow Unison’s warning last week that losing “vital health worker roles” will “simply place more strain on services already creaking at the seams”.

The public sector union’s south east regional organiser, James Smith, said:

“The pressure on the NHS is unsustainable. Tackling the growing demand and ensuring patients get the timely care they deserve won’t be achieved by cutting jobs.

“What’s certain is that losing vital health worker roles will simply place more strain on services already creaking at the seams and will cost more in the long run.”

The Isle of Wight NHS Trust previously said that while it understands ‘these decisions are difficult’, it needs to ‘go further’ than it did last year to ‘achieve the significant financial savings required of us’.

Job fears come after the government announced plans to abolish NHS England.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting told the House of Commons last month:

“Today, the NHS delivers worse care for patients but is more expensive than ever before.

“The budget for NHS England staff and admin alone has soared to £2 billion. Taxpayers are paying more but getting less.

“We have been left with two large organisations doing the same roles with an enormous amount of duplication.

“It is, especially in times like these, when money is tight, that such bloated and inefficient bureaucracy cannot be justified.”