COOKS and other catering workers in Essex hospitals could lose their jobs, as bosses consider outsourcing the department.

Basildon Hospital and Broomfield Hospital, near Chelmsford, could axe 300 jobs in catering across the sites, after similar jobs were outsourced at Southend Hospital.

The Mid and South Essex NHS trust which runs Basildon, Southend and Broomfield Hospitals, says the next step is to see what comes back in any financial talks but no decisions have yet been made.

It's been a bleak few days for the trust which was recently rated 123rd out of 134 trusts in the first of the Government's new NHS league tables.

Then there were serious criticisms by the Care Quality Commission relating to its children's services. Inspections were carried out in response to potential specific incidents and ongoing concerns over the safety of children and young people receiving care.

Commenting on the catering jobs, Dawn Scrafield, Chief Finance Officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We have been outsourcing our patient and retail catering at Southend Hospital for many years and are now reviewing our other sites to standardise our catering offer.

"Data shows we spend more money on catering than similar trusts and our patient satisfaction is variable.

"We have a duty to spend taxpayers' money responsibly, while making sure we provide good quality food and choice to our patients, staff and visitors.

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"No decisions have been made yet and we have been speaking with our union colleagues to ensure they are being kept up to date."

The hospital trust also says a lot of the catering equipment is coming to the end of its life and will need investment to replace it.

It says: "Working with an external firm is one way of making sure it has reliable, effective equipment to meet the catering needs of our patients and visitors."