Hospital boss to meet union after 'formal trade dispute raised' amid AI job cuts consultation

Due to finish at the end of the month, the consultation could see 100 jobs shed at the hospital trust that manages Kettering General Hospital (KGH) as the introduction of AI replaces administration and secretarial roles.

A successful AI trial was completed by the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) group which manages KGH and Northampton General Hospital (NGH) earlier in the year.

UHN is looking to introduce two new AI systems – one for doctors to write up consultation notes and send out records and letters, and the other to manage appointment bookings using AI to call and receive calls from patients.

UHN Chief People Officer Paula Kirkpatrick said: “Following receipt of the formal trade dispute raised by Unison, our chief executive has agreed to meet with Unison representatives to hear their concerns on the proposed administrative model."

The agreement to meet with union officials comes after Unison held one-to-one meetings with members of staff.

Leanne Weatherley, Unison branch secretary at KGH, said: “I have been meeting with the membership. They are very anxious, especially with Christmas on the way.”

More than a hundred people could be affected by the move to AI but bosses said they would shed jobs in a 'controlled and compassionate way' avoiding redundancies.

But the new systems mean that those who have been carrying out the admin tasks are no longer needed with the Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) being introduced with a 45-day consultation period which started in September.

Unison has asked UHN for information needed to ‘properly scrutinise proposals’ that could remove jobs, downgrade roles and ‘fundamentally change’ the way clinical administration is delivered at UHN.

They say they need the information to properly challenge the trust's assumptions, test the risks or put forward credible alternatives.

The union says it is not opposed to technology or change.

Nadeem Samari, regional organiser, Unison East Midlands said: “Unison has repeatedly requested the financial, workforce and business case information behind these proposals. It hasn’t been provided.

“If the case for these changes is so strong, why won’t the trust show us the evidence?

“Due to this lack of meaningful consultation on such a serious matter Unison issued a trade dispute on Wednesday, October 28.

"UNISON has also called an urgent meeting for Monday, November 9. All members will have received an invitation and are encouraged to attend.”