THE future of 140 nurses in Lancashire could be under threat in a mental health shake-up, a union has said.

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust plans to reduce inpatient facilities as part of an overhaul of mental health provision designed to save a minimum of £12million.

Unions and staff believe around 140 workers will be affected by the proposals – although it is not yet known where the job cuts would be made.

The trust would not confirm that figure and said how many staff were at risk of redundancy would only be known at the end of a 90-day consultation process.

Health chiefs scrapped plans to build a new £35million mental health hospital in Hapton near Burnley earlier this year.

Lancashire Care said investment would instead be made in refurbishing two units based at the Royal Blackburn Hospital – Hillview and Pendleview.

It plans to create a 154-bed unit in Blackpool, a new 18-bed unit in central Lancashire and redevelop an 18-bed unit in Lancaster.

There are 82 beds in Blackburn and 79 beds at Burnley General Hospital.

The new proposals would see Hillview and Pendleview close in November with services temporarily relocated to Burnley while the units are refurbished.

The new Blackburn site would eventually house 72 patients, but Burnley’s psychiatric wards would close permanently.

A member of staff, who contacted the Lancashire Telegraph anonymously, said: “They have said there will be 140 nursing posts to go.”

In a letter to employees, Heather Tierney-Moore, Lancashire Care’s chief executive, said the trust recognised changes to local services could be ‘unsettling for staff’.

She said: “This is the start of a long journey for the trust, which will realise a long-standing goal to enhance the quality of care by improving inpatient accommodation, which is no longer suitable.”

Tim Ellis, UNISON’s organiser for health in East Lancashire, said the union wanted assurances staff would not lose their jobs.

He said: “We are asking for clarification that these 140 jobs will not be lost and that there will be sufficient community provision to house these excellent, skilled staff and meet the needs of mental health patients.”

A Lancashire Care spokesman said work was on-going to define how many staff would be needed for future inpatient services.

She added that “a significant proportion” of the trust’s nursing staff were also reaching retirement age and would be finishing work in the next few years.

She said: “The trust will ensure that there are a range of options available to staff affected by the changes and we will be seeking to avoid redundancies wherever possible, as we have done during previous organisational changes.

“The trust is currently undertaking a consultation process with staff working across the network in partnership with staff side and union representatives.

“This is a formal process which will support staff in exploring all opportunities available to them across the trust’s network of inpatient and community services.”