Alder Hey plans to cut pay bill by £4.7m this year

The report on Alder Hey’s “savings and transformation plan”, released to HSJ under the freedom of information act, states: “To deliver the required workforce savings over the three year period, if the trust did nothing with regard to pay levels or existing policies, it is estimated that the Trust would need to reduce its workforce by the equivalent of 129, 114 and 114 [whole time equivalent] over the next three years.

It continues: “However, these numbers can be significantly reduced, to approximately 232 over three years, when measured against the impact of alternative strategies including skill mix reviews, revisions to terms and conditions and review of the employment policy framework.

“Notwithstanding this it should be noted that implementing some of these changes will bring a number of challenges from an employee relations perspective,” the report says.

“The board should be aware that if changes to contractual terms and conditions cannot be agreed with trade union partners, the Trust will be required to take steps to terminate and re-engage staff on new contracts of employment,” it adds.