Last updated 19:49, Thursday, 09 October 2008

ABOUT 30 nurses at the West Cumberland Hospital and Cumberland Infirmary will have to switch jobs.

They have been served with redundancy notices but are to be given other positions within North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust.

The move has come about because the trust has decided to disband its bench system, where a team of nurses without specific roles were sent to work in departments as needed.

The trust says there is now better organisation within the hospitals and the system is redundant.

Sandy Brown, director of nursing, said: “We have deliberately held back filling other permanent and vacant nursing positions within the trust to give these members of staff an opportunity to apply. All nurses on the bench are in the process of being redeployed.”