Stoke: 'Morale low' at job cuts hospital

Morale is low among staff at a debt-hit Staffordshire hospital which has cut 800 jobs, says the Royal College of Nursing.

The BBC reports RCN representative Elaine Twigg saying that NHS cuts in the West Midlands region had been among the biggest in England.

She said: "It makes it very difficult when I speak to others and they say they're having a hard time as well.

The University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust made the cuts in an effort to reduce a £17m deficit.

Ms Twigg, who is attending the RCN conference in Harrogate, added: "I know morale is very low throughout the country, and certainly in our hospital it is very low, so we will wait and see whether this manages to improve things."

The hospital has also closed 145 beds as part of its cost-cutting measures and has said more post closures are possible.