Derbyshire plans to create joint posts with county's NHS

Derbyshire County Council and NHS Derbyshire County are considering creating joint posts where employees work for both organisations at the same time, the Derby Telegraph has reported.

The posts will be created when people leave their jobs, the local authority told the paper. The public sector bodies are also considering moving operations such as communications, printing and payroll into the same buildings.

Andrew Lewer, leader of the county council, insisted that there were “no plans for large-scale compulsory redundancies”, but confirmed some posts would be lost.

He added: “The county council overlaps in its work with the NHS to a considerable degree, particularly with regards to children’s health and well being and even more so in adult care.

“Similarities are also there in that NHS Derbyshire County is a very similar-sized organisation working in a similar area with a similar corporate structure. It makes sense for us to work more closely together.”

Lewer said the organisations would be looking to make sure that residents are not visited by a county council and NHS employee doing the same job.

The local authority is aiming to make savings worth £54m in four years. However, Lewer said the two organisations had no plans for a formal merger in the way that Herefordshire NHS and Herefordshire County Council have implemented a shared chief executive and management team.