Up to 350 jobs are at risk at the NHS trust that runs Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford, as it works to close a £73 million financial deficit. The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) has confirmed it is launching a time-limited voluntary redundancy scheme and pausing most new recruitment as financial pressure builds heading into winter.

The trust has stressed that patient safety remains its top priority.

Voluntary scheme and recruitment pause

Acting chief executive Helen Ashley said the trust was responding to significant financial pressures. Applications for voluntary redundancy will be considered against service needs, and essential recruitment will continue where required to maintain safe and effective patient care. The trust must also deliver a cost improvement programme worth more than £62 million this year.

Union warns over clinical posts

Unison has raised serious concerns about the plans. Regional officer Chanel Camilleri-Willis told BBC Radio Stoke that the figures changed rapidly during early discussions, with the deficit rising from £60 million to £73 million within a week and the number of posts under consideration increasing from 225 to 350.

She described the process as rushed and said the inclusion of clinical posts was really unusual and a massive concern. The union has urged the trust to cut spending on agency staff, which it said costs a phenomenal amount, before reducing permanent posts, and warned that staff who remain could face greater pressure.

What happens next

The voluntary redundancy window is time-limited, and the trust is expected to confirm further details in the coming weeks. Campaigners have warned that without change, patients could face longer waits for treatment and further delays to ambulance handovers, an issue already causing concern at Royal Stoke.