A 30-day consultation has begun on the demotion of some clinical leaders in a bid to cut costs.

MiP chief executive, John Restell, said: ‘Forcing staff to take pay cuts is no way to balance the books. It not only harms morale at a time of extraordinary financial and operational pressure, it risks undermining the trust's ability to deliver safe services for patients and puts further pressure on already stretched clinical teams.

‘Moving these jobs to a lower pay band will not make the responsibilities they carry disappear. The trust needs to be clear about what work will continue and what work will stop.

‘We will support our members throughout this consultation and urge the trust to listen carefully to their concerns before making any decisions.'

Maggie Oldham, chief executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said the clinical divisions' restructure was a ‘vital first step in making changes to the way we work including strengthening accountability, improving decision-making and making sure our services are aligned to the way patients receive their care'.

Oldham said only a ‘small number' of the 144 job roles involved would be affected, adding: ‘We are working directly with colleagues who may be affected by the proposed changes and their views will be considered before any decisions are made. It is important that we allow the consultation process to run its course and it would be wrong to comment on the outcome before this time.'