A HEALTH union has accused hospital managers of using bullying tactics after more than 5,400 health workers were sent advanced notification of redundancies.

Bosses at the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust have sent out forms known as HR1s, which are a legal requirement when employers are proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees within a period of 90 days.

The trust, which runs the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, and the University Hospital of Hartlepool, is trying to make £40m in savings.

The trust said that the issuing of the document relates to a consultation about changes to sick pay and it has no plans to cut jobs.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which is taking legal advice over the letter sent to staff, said the move means that if the 5,452 staff who work for the trust do not agree to new terms and conditions by the end of March, they would all be dismissed and then offered re-employment on inferior terms and conditions.

Regional RCN director Glenn Turp said: “This is an incredibly confrontational approach, particularly as national negotiations are still continuing. It is almost as if they are deliberately trying to undermine national negotiations.

“The trust is bullying and intimidating the workforce, to get them to sign new, less favourable contracts. The ultimate threat is that if they do not sign, they will all be sacked and offered re-employment on new contracts at the end of March.”

Mr Turp said the trust was so financially desperate that it recently resorted to holding car boot sales.

But a spokeswoman for the trust said: “The HR1 is a legal requirement which is necessary because we are proposing to make a change in employees’ contracts.

“There are no job losses or redundancies planned and the 90-day consultation period is an opportunity for us to build the informal discussions we have already had with staff and to seek their views.”

The consultation with staff is over proposals to pay staff a standard rate if they are off sick during unsocial hours.

Currently, staff who are off sick during unsocial hours receive extra payments on top of their regular pay.

The idea of scrapping enhanced payments was originally suggested by staff as a way of saving the trust money.