Blair dismisses NHS job cut claims

Prime Minister Tony Blair has dismissed claims from opposition parties that the financial problems in the NHS has cost 20,000 people their jobs.

Mr Blair has instead predicted that there would be a “few hundred” job losses, although recent research from NHS Employers has revealed that the reduction in job numbers could reach 20,000, although this relates to the number of posts and not necessarily the number of people.

The prime minister stated: “When you actually look at the announcements, most of it is vacancies that are not being filled or posts that are being transferred.”

He added that the “few hundred” people losing their jobs are acts of compulsory redundancy – and not 20,000 people.

The government has recently been under much criticism from unions and NHS organisations, which allege that the government is responsible for creeping privatisation.

They cite the DHL/NHS Logistics deal as evidence of this.