Healthcare unions claim the chief executive of a flagship NHS advice service has refused to confirm reports that as many as 1,200 jobs could go until the local elections are out of the way.
NHS Direct nurses first heard that their jobs could be on the line earlier this month, after leaked report seen by the Nursing Times revealed that board members have been asked to consider scrapping almost 1,250 of 3,746 jobs.
Ed Lester, chief executive of the nurse-led telemedicine service, was asked to confirm the leaks by Unison representatives at a routine meeting held last week.
But he reportedly said rumours of jobs losses would not be "confirmed or denied" until after the May 4 elections.
"I cannot give anymore information until after the council elections," he told nurses. Mr Lester's comments were taken down by a union press officer present.
The claim that NHS Direct nurses are to be kept in the dark about possible job losses until after the May 4 polls will prove embarrassing to the Labour government if political influence has been brought to bear on the timing of the announcement.
Labour is already expecting to face a drubbing at the polls next month, when elections take place across 176 local authorities, including all-out elections across the 32 London boroughs.
The popular 24-hour telephone and online health service was introduced eight years ago as the revolutionary, "nurse-led" answer to out-of-hours and home care as part of the government's reform agenda.
The leaked proposal to cut a third of jobs is aimed at reducing a potential deficit of £20m by the end of the next financial year and make NHS Direct more competitive with private firms, according to reports.
Other plans rumoured to be in the pipeline include replacing nurses with unqualified staff and closing eight call centres. NHS Direct denied that the job losses were being buried until after the election as a result of political interference. "We have not released any details of jobs cuts at all," an NHS Direct spokesman said.
"We will be going out to a formal consultation with staff later on and that has been mooted around the middle of May. We do not have any definite dates."
He added: "We are working to our own timetable. That is being formalised on the basis of consulting staff on a principle document that set out how any change will be made in the future and that is due on 17 April."
The government is struggling to retain confidence in reforms following a series of job cuts announced over recent weeks by NHS trusts struggling to recover soaring financial deficits.
Tony Blair held a crisis meeting at Downing Street yesterday with the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, and NHS trust chiefs to discuss financial recovery plans.
Almost 7,000 job losses have already been announced by NHS trusts up and down the country.
The Liberal Democrats have warned that the final toll could be as high as 24,000.
