AOL News: Hospital Exports Jobs to India
A struggling hospital that announced 300 job cuts last month is sending its administration work to India in a bid to save £2.5million a year.
New Cross Hospital, in Wolverhampton, will be sending patient information via email to halve its annual £5million medical secretary bill.
The move will start in May and see voice recordings from doctors sent over the Internet to typists.
Chief executive David Loughton said of the move, that will be tested for two months: "I have some concerns as to whether it will work or not but we have to look at it.
"It is part of trying to cut back on unnecessary waste.
"We spend £5million a year on the medical secretaries and our auditors have told us we can halve this by sending work overseas.
"We would still have personal assistants working to organise diaries but we will remove the copy typing."
Thousands of NHS jobs are being cut in the Midlands with 1,000 being axed at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, in Stoke-on -Trent.
Managers at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, that runs the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, and the Kidderminster Hospital, announced 720 job cuts.
About 300 job losses were also announced at Shropshire's two main hospitals, the Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust revealed it planned to cut more than 150 jobs.