Northampton mental health charity puts 92 support jobs at risk

A mental health charity in Northampton has put 92 jobs at risk as part of a "resource alignment."
St Andrew's Healthcare in Billing Road is putting 92 jobs at risk as part of a restructure.St Andrew's Healthcare in Billing Road is putting 92 jobs at risk as part of a restructure.
St Andrew's Healthcare in Billing Road is putting 92 jobs at risk as part of a restructure.

In 2017 St Andrew’s Healthcare launched an internal transformation programme following an "inadequate" rating by the Care Quality Commision.

The watchdog directed St Andrews to make improvements across the board in cleanliness, patient records and infection control, and called on the largely taxpayer-funded charity to address the shortage of staff.

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The initial phase has seen the charity set up 15 Integrated Practice Units (IPUs) to provide what it says are more "bespoke care plans" for its patients, many of whom have serious conditions including depression and schizophrenia.

However, St Andrews says it is now reviewing how much back-office support the new wards need from its HR, IT and finance departments.

The charity has pledged to recruit 262 new roles - 122 nurses and 140 healthcare assistants.

However, a spokeswoman for the charity said: "The alignment means that unfortunately, the roles of 92 of our colleagues within our support functions and multidisciplinary teams are currently under consultation.

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"Whilst we regret the impact this is having on people in these roles we believe that by putting more nursing resource on to the wards we will be able to further improve the carewe provide our patients."

The charity, which employs more than 4,000 staff across its services in Northampton, Birmingham, Nottinghamshire and Essex, says it will look to redeploy the 92 staff elsewhere in the charity.

The spokeswoman added: "Individuals directly impacted by these changes are being spoken to and, as part of the consultation process, we will look to find suitable alternative roles within the charity for as many people as we can and who wish to remain with St Andrew’s."