Management cuts reduce NHS staff

The number of finance jobs in the NHS has declined sharply over the last year following deep cuts in management costs, according to a survey of pay and conditions across the health sector.

Health trusts have slashed the number of finance manager jobs they advertise by almost half, says the Dorset Management Centre. Other financial management positions, including finance director, have experienced cuts of up to 20%.

Irene Innes, a spokeswoman for the Wimborne-based consultants, said the Government’s decision to cut back on management costs by 5% had bitten deep into staff numbers in finance departments. ‘The number of NHS management jobs peaked last year after four years of growth. Since then we have seen a dramatic decline of 20% overall,’ she said.

CIPFA, the public accountants body, confirmed the number of finance jobs in the health sector had declined over the last four years. It said the number of finance staff had dropped from 17,000 to 16,000, but the number of qualified staff had increased marginally, from 2,250 to 2,500, over the same period.

According to the survey, pay levels for qualified staff have been maintained, while staff in other departments have seen starting salaries fall dramatically.

More than half of all the 380 posts surveyed had lower starting salaries than three months ago. In some cases, proposed starting salaries had dropped by more than 20%.