'Warning sign' as hospitals offer to pay staff to resign

THE NHS trust that runs Nottingham's hospitals will pay office workers to resign in what it says is a bid to improve efficiencies.

- By JOSHUA HARTLEY

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which operates Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital, has launched a mutually agreed resignation scheme where administrative or clerical staff are paid to voluntarily leave the organisation.

Frontline medical staff are not eligible to apply for the scheme, but some managers are able to do so. NUH said the resignations would allow it to "transform our workforce," but public sector union Unison said asking NHS workers to leave was a warning sign rather than a strategy to improve.