Trust ordered to cut 600 posts

Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust chief executive Matthew Hopkins said in a note to staff the “requirement is not something we can control, but how we deliver it is”. He said the trust needed to act, or would instead be issued with a “complete freeze on all recruitment activity”.

Mr Hopkins did not say who had made the order, but the trust was this month placed in “mandated intensive support” – previously known as “special measures” – by NHS England, as a result of its finances. A board report said it submitted a £100m deficit plan for 2024-25 last month, even after planning efficiency savings equal to 6 per cent of turnover. It is facing a “projected significant deterioration in the deficit by year-end”. 

The trust, which runs three major hospitals in Basildon, Southend and Chelmsford, is also reviewing recruitment for clinical positions.

Mr Hopkins told HSJ the trust had added 2,000 posts in recent years and now needed to look at vacant roles to see “whether they are genuinely needed” as part of its financial recovery plans.

Across England other trusts have resorted to recruitment freezes and redundancies for non-clinical staff, and a squeeze on agency staffing, as they try to fill the £4.5bn gap projected for 2024-25. But these measures now appear to be extending to substantive clinical posts in some areas.

The email sent to staff at MSEFT says: “We are facing ever-increasing scrutiny of our pay budget and must evidence that we have grip and control over the positions we are recruiting to.

“Unfortunately, we are in the position where we must review all posts, including clinical roles. As a result, a revised process for control over our vacancies and establishment will be implemented.”

Only posts where there is an “immediate urgency to recruit” should be put forward to a new vacancy control panel, the message says.

It adds: “…We must reduce our establishment by 600 whole-time equivalent posts. This requirement is not something we can control, but how we deliver it is. We are asking that all managers in the trust use this as an opportunity to carefully consider all posts to prioritise what can be removed…

“If we do not shape the process ourselves, the alternative is that this will be done to us with a complete freeze on all recruitment activity until the 600 WTE reduction is achieved.”

Mr Hopkins said: “Our plans for financial recovery are wide-ranging. As part of that work we are looking at our staffing models with a view to reducing the overall headcount by 600.

”Our establishment has grown by 2,000 in recent years, so we need to look closely at roles that have been vacant for some time to see whether they are genuinely needed and represent value for money.”