MORECAMBE Bay hospital bosses are planning to cut staffing levels and increase hospital parking fees in a new era of austerity.

As part of the drive to save £48million over the next four years, The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) will cut staffing levels by 17per cent – the equivalent of 705 full-time posts.

But they insist redundancies would be a last resort.

The trust also plans parking charge increases at its three sites – Westmorland General Hospital (WGH), Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and Furness General Hospital (FGH) – with some tariffs rising by 40per cent.

The measures are planned even though Government funding to the trust is not being cut.

All 6,452 staff at the trust are currently having their jobs reviewed, but human resources director Roger Wilson said this did not mean posts would necessarily be axed.

He said: “We are just like every other public service in that we have to make savings in line with the Government’s target.

“We must save £1 in every £20, yet not to the detriment of patient care.

“We have said all year that this trust is about employment over earnings and, as one of the biggest employers in South Lakeland, we must take this seriously.

“As it stands, every person who works at MBHT is undergoing a ‘Quality Impact Assessment’ which will look at how we can save money through their roles.

“One method we hope to look at in terms of saving money where jobs are concerned is through the natural wastage we have each year.

“Because of the geography of the region we cover we have roughly 400 people per year leave the trust.

"This year we will look at perhaps asking whether these roles need replacing, or if positions can be merged.

“We are also in discussion at a national level to freeze incremental pay rises within all trusts from pay bands one to six.

"There is a standard pay freeze across the NHS as it is.

“Redundancy will be the very last resort and it does not make financial sense to do this, as redundancies are very costly and we have vital services to expand and maintain.”

Parking fees at all three hospitals will rise from February 1, 2011.

At WGH, a new one-hour tariff will be introduced and the standard two-hour short stay tariff will rise from £1.60 to £2.10.

Staff are also facing a parking permit increase of £1, which will bring in an extra £15,000 to MBHT.

Ann Mitchell, a spokeswoman for healthcare union UNISON, said: “Car parking charges upset a lot of people, especially as a lot of staff are expected to work shifts and sometimes they have no option other than to bring a car in.

"It can make it very expensive.”