NHS trusts get 230 offers of resignation
A total of 230 health workers across the Black Country have applied to resign as part of the biggest shake-up of the NHS in decades.
A fifth of the 1,100 staff at the Black Country Cluster of Primary Care Trusts – which covers Walsall, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, and Dudley - and run GP surgeries and public health, have applied for resignation. The Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme was first opened due to the sweeping changes to the NHS, under the Government's Health and Social Care Act.
The shake-up will see PCTS abolished from April next year, with public health responsibilities being shared across a number of organisations, though the majority will move to councils, as the service was run up to 1974.
While some staff will transfer to council employment, not all will.
Health chiefs are bracing themselves for job losses but exact numbers have not yet been confirmed.
It is hoped resignations will reduce the number of compulsory redundancies needed. Staff who have expressed an interest will find out next month if their applications have succeeded.
Marilyn Madders, associate director of workforce and development for the Black Country Cluster of PCTs, said: "Managers and trade union representatives are working together to support our staff through what is a very difficult time for many of them."
In return for resignations, staff can receive a severance package of between three months' or up to one year's salary, rising depending on the length of their service.
Each trust will now decide whether to accept the offer of resignation and a deal will only be struck if both sides agree.
