HEALTH jobs could be lost across York and Selby as part of an exercise to cut millions of pounds of debt - with York Hospital and GPs' surgeries possibly in the firing line.

The grim warning came today from Penny Jones, the acting chief executive of Selby and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) - the body which holds the purse strings for the local health service.

The PCT is predicting it will have debts of £23.7 million by the end of this month, and health chiefs have been told they must cut most of the deficit within 12 months.

Ms Jones told the Evening Press the cost-cutting drive could mean job losses at York Hospital and doctors' practices.

Dr David Geddes, the PCT's medical director and a GP at Clifton Health Centre, in York, said health services needed to operate in a more efficient way to help the trust clear its debt.

This could mean a number of new ways of working, including dealing with more patients by telephone and email. Dr Geddes said although there was a "risk of redundancies", GP practices were, for the most part, paid according to national guidelines, although some services were agreed locally.

"We have got a huge financial problem, which means services are going to have to be streamlined to be more efficient," he said.

"Although it's a financial nightmare that we're in, in many ways it does actually allow us to look at developing (more) skills."

Other measures could include doctors' practices working together more, and providing health services to people in their homes or in community clinics to cut down bed-based care.

"There are a lot of skilled clinicians (medics) who will be able to take the initiative and work very much at the forefront of health care," he said. "We now need to take stock. Are we still providing the services where they are needed?"

York Hospital chief executive Jim Easton, said there were no current plans to lose any jobs there, but it was too early to say what the impact of the PCT's plans would be.

"They (the PCT) are seeking to reduce the amount they invest in the hospital and that will impact on services," he said.

"There are certainly no plans in the hospital to reduce jobs - we need to understand what the PCT is expecting of us. We have to understand what we're expecting from that. It's too early to know."

Updated: 09:40 Thursday, March 02, 2006