Massive job cuts proposed in NHS

London: The NHS could be forced to sack tens of thousands of doctors and nurses and cancel hundreds of operations after the next election, a leaked report suggests.

The document reveals that management consultants have told ministers that if the NHS wants to save £20 billion (Dh120 billion) to meet government targets, it will need to reduce its workforce by 137,000, or 10 per cent, over the next five years.

The cuts are being proposed despite assurances from Prime Minister Gordon Brown that public services will not be reduced under Labour.

But the leaked document, written by consultancy firm McKinsey, sets out measures that the government could be forced to implement.

Patients may have to be discharged from hospital much earlier, outpatient appointments could be scaled back, and minor treatments such as varicose vein removals and tonsillectomies may be banned.

Planned improvements in stroke care and children's NHS services would also have to be put on hold.

The report, obtained by the Health Service Journal, was commissioned by department of health civil servants following warnings that funding would be increasingly squeezed as the country recovers from recession.

Last night, Labour was accused of planning cuts in secret, with doctors and patients warning they will put patients at risk.

Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: "Yet again Labour ministers are failing to be straight with the British people.

"[Health Secretary] Andy Burnham promised to protect the NHS, but now we find out that his department has been drawing up secret plans for swingeing cuts."

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said: "We are already short of specialist consultants and nurses, so to consider cutting frontline staff like this is astonishing.

"The government should stop spending money on management consultants and invest properly in frontline staff."

£20b government cost-saving target for NHS

10% reduction in workforce over 5 years proposed