Basildon Hospital is facing a budget shortfall of £34million which could see the closure of a ward before Christmas and the loss of up to 200 jobs.

Health chiefs forecast they will have to save £17million next year, on top of the £17million they have already slashed from their budget since April.

The cutbacks come as the primary care trusts for south Essex, NHS South West and South East Essex, unveil their plans to save more than £300million over the next four years.

The crux of the proposals is to treat more patients at home rather than hospitals.

Basildon Hospital bosses believe this will enable them to kick-start the savings by getting rid of more than 100 beds by 2013 and axing backroom staff.

But, despite the cutbacks, they are adamant the changes will not affect patients.

Alan Whittle, the hospital’s chief executive, said: “We will not close any beds until we are sure the demand is no longer there for them.

“If people are treated in the community rather than at the hospital, there will inevitably be less pressure on our beds.

“The only effective way to do that and save money is by closing wards.

“I think we could see one ward closing by the winter, but only if the community system is working.”

More than 200 jobs have already been scrapped by the hospital this year, although most of the roles were unfilled vacancies.

Only three people were forced to take redundancy.

However, the hospital is looking at slashing a similar number of jobs again next year to cope with the savings required by primary care trust NHS South West Essex, which aims to carve £183.6million from health service budgets by 2014.

Most of the roles are likely to be administration staff.

The hospital hopes to save £2million by 2013 by transferring patients’ medical records from paper to computer.

Mr Whittle added: “That will allow doctors and nurses to pull up patients’ details at a moment’s notice.

“It means we won’t have to keep huge archives of paper notes and the staff to look after them.”

Despite the savings already earmarked, NHS bosses say more will be required.

To meet the primary care trust’s demands, the hospital will need to find an extra £4million from more ward closures and £6million from other services.

Andrew Pike, chief executive of NHS South East and South West Essex, said: “We will work with the hospital to find the necessary savings.”

JOBS AND WARDS TO GO AT SOUTHEND HOSPITAL

HUNDREDS of jobs could be lost at Southend Hospital as it faces slashing nearly £19million from its wages bill over the next four years.

NHS South East Essex, the primary care trust for Southend, Rochford and Castle Point, has set hospital bosses stringent targets to save nearly £130million by 2014.

Despite a pressing demand for beds, the PCT wants at least two wards – about 56 beds – to be closed over that period.

The PCT also aimed a thinly-veiled attack at the hospital for failing to come up with enough cost-cutting ideas, despite being told about the need for savings a year ago.

In its report, the trust said: “Opportunities identified by Southend Hospital do not presently match the level of challenge within the organisation, assuming the savings identified across the health system are delivered in full.”

Bosses at NHS South East Essex and its counterpart, NHS South West Essex, started drawing up plans for the massive cost-cutting required by the Government in October last year.

The proposals, published on Friday, have been discussed and signed off by hospital chiefs, GPs and community care teams.

Despite the advance warning, Jacqueline Totterdell, Southend Hospital’s chief executive, said she needed time to digest the details before she could discuss the possible number of job cuts.

However, she suggested some of the roles could be eliminated through unfilled vacancies. She said: “There are a number of unknowns. We aim to make incremental savings year on year.

“As services become more streamlined and inefficiencies are eliminated, we shall not need to replace all staff as they leave the hospital.”

As well as slashing jobs and closing beds, the hospital has also been told to find other savings in its drugs budget, senior management salaries and utilities bills.

The cuts total more than £46million over the next four years.

Hospital bosses have previously claimed they would be able to reduce the number of agency staff to help make the £17.7million savings needed this year. But, in the PCT’s opinion, the £18.9million which must be sliced from the wage bill by 2014 is separate to the £5million which can be cut from agency costs.

Ms Totterdell said the hospital was already trying to find those savings. She added: “In the past couple of years, we have done a great amount of work looking at the entire patient journey through the hospital – from admission to discharge – to identify and eliminate any superfluous costs.

“This is already having an impact – not only by reducing our costs but also by improving the patient’s experience.”