NHS Lothian prepared for tougher staff cutting calls

AROUND 1000 people have left NHS Lothian in the past year, but it has been warned that shedding the same amount of jobs in the year ahead will be tougher.

The number who have left accounts for around 762 "full-time" equivalents, and means the process of staff reduction is roughly halfway through.

The health board's director of human resources, Alan Boyter, said the next round of cuts may become tougher as the 2000-worker target figure is approached.

Mr Boyter also told the Evening News it was likely that, once the organisation's headcount had reduced from 29,000 to around 27,000, attention would be turned to other ways of becoming more efficient rather than more staffing reductions.