HEALTH trusts in Suffolk have today said they have no imminent plans to axe jobs, but could not give a firm guarantee for the future.

HEALTH trusts in Suffolk have today said they have no imminent plans to axe jobs, but could not give a firm guarantee for the future.

Their claims come as hospitals across the country have announced more than 2000 job cuts in the past week.

East Suffolk's primary care trusts are expected to be £19.8m in debt at the end of the month, but spokeswoman Jan Rowsell said nobody had lost their job in the past 12 months.

She said: “Jobs may have changed and services may have changed but rather than people losing their jobs they are offered other opportunities.

“We will do everything we can to protect people's jobs but we cannot give a guarantee that there will not be some people who are asked to take on a different role.

“As the situation in the NHS moves forward we can't give a cast iron guarantee that things won't change.”

She said the trust had avoided the need to make redundancies by assessing whether vacant posts needed to be filled when people left, and not advertising jobs externally.

Ms Rowsell added that the situation at Ipswich Hospital was the same, with no immediate cuts planned.

West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds announced plans to cut 220 jobs in June last year.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said good progress was being made towards this and there are currently 190 unfilled posts.

She said: “That does not mean that 190 people have lost their jobs. A lot of it has come through restructuring services and redeploying people elsewhere.

“There are no imminent plans to get rid of any more posts.”

A spokesman for Suffolk West Primary Care Trust said they have not cut any jobs across their services during this financial year.

He said: “We don't know what the future might hold but there are not jobs on the line in the immediate future.”

Weblink: www.suffolkeast.nhs.uk; www.ipswichhospital.nhs.uk

Friday March 17: Hospital bosses in Staffordshire revealed that up to 1,000 staff could be made redundant in Stoke-on-Trent to reduce £15 million debt.

Monday March 20: Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust announced it was cutting about 200 jobs to help save £22 million.

Tuesday March 21: 300 jobs to be cut at New Cross Hospital, in Wolverhampton.

Wednesday March 22: The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London, announced it was to shed 480 posts under plans to save £25 million in the next year.

Thursday March 23: Up to 700 posts may be cut over the next three years at the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.