Bolton hospital: Hundreds of jobs to go

Hundreds of jobs are to be cut at Royal Bolton Hospital, the NHS has confirmed.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust needs to save about £20m this year, with more savings needed in coming years.

In April the trust discovered a deficit of about £2m, when a £1.9m surplus was expected. The deficit is due to a shortfall in cost-saving targets.

Trust chairman David Wakefield said no savings would be made without clinical sign-off that patient safety would be guaranteed.

A spokesman said that making savings of £20m would equate to the loss of about 300 posts at an average NHS salary, but the figure could exceed that if more savings were made.