TWO nurses who work in 11 GP practices across north Northumberland are to lose their jobs at the end of the month because of budget cuts.
The relief practice nurses, who provide cover, are being laid off because of reductions in funding to GP practices as a result of the new contracts.
GPs – who said that cuts in services were inevitable as part of the new arrangements put forward b
y Northumberland Care Trust – have called it a "tragic loss".
GPs have decided to "reluctantly" sign up to the contracts, which come into force on April 1, to ensure what they call the survival of "local family GP surgeries and the high quality services which patients in Northumberland receive".
Dr Robert Lambourn, of the Burnhouse Surgery in Wooler, said: "This is a tragic loss which will result in deterioration of patient services as a result of the care trust's funding cuts."
The posts have been in place for more than six years. The nurses are employed by TACT PMS, an umbrella organisation of GP practices in north Northumberland.
Dr Graham Syers, of Bondgate Practice in Alnwick, which has branch surgeries in Seahouses, Embleton and Longhoughton, said: "It is a loss for Northumberland and in some areas it will impact on patient care.
"In Alnwick, it will mean it will be more difficult to plan for nurses' educational activities and development."
Dr Lambourn added: "It will make it more difficult to get practice nurse appointments in Wooler when our practice nurses are on holiday.
"They are devoted, hard-working nurses who have worked well in this area and it is a great shame for them. It is also a sign that patient care will suffer as a result of the cuts."
However, Dr Lambourn said the reductions are fewer than was originally proposed which is partly down to the public's support.
The contracts follow efforts by the GP negotiating group to minimise the potential cuts to patient services which they say would have resulted from the offer made in December.
The new proposal has the same maximum eight per cent reduction but gives practices the chance to claw back some of the cuts in their funding by providing more services.
Julie Johnston, chairman of the Personal Medical Services (PMS), negotiators, said: "We find ourselves with no alternative but to accept this proposal.
"Small rural practices and some large urban practices are still anxious about their long-term viability but remain committed to providing a high quality service for their patients. Unfortunately, the redundancies of a number of front-line clinical staff are unavoidable as a result of these funding cuts."
A spokeswoman for the care trust said: "The agreement that we have reached with GPs is on the basis that existing services will be maintained.
"The overall package means that during 2008/09 no practice will lose more than three per cent in funding which is less when inflation is taken into account.
"As independent contractors, the employment of staff in the practices is a matter for the practices to manage."
