By Chaminda Jayanetti

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman has refused to rule out significant cuts in the number of doctors and nurses employed by the National Health Service.

Newspaper reports over the weekend indicated that hospital trusts up and down the country were preparing to cut the number of doctors and nurses over the course of the next parliament.

Figures obtained by the Conservatives under the Freedom of Information Act indicated showed that hospital trusts were preparing to cut at least 650 doctors’ posts and 2,000 nursing positions over the course of the next parliament.

But given that more than two thirds of the country’s hospital trusts did not provide any figures, the total job losses are likely to be much higher.

Speaking to The Samosa at Labour’s ethnic minority manifesto launch on Monday, Ms Harman repeatedly refused to guarantee that Labour would maintain the current number of doctors and nurses currently employed by the NHS.

Instead, she committed to keeping enough doctors and nurses to deliver the party’s manifesto pledges on ‘frontline’ health provision.

“In health, our guarantee is that you will be able to see your GP not only during the day, but evenings and weekends, that you will be able to have test results back in a week, you will be able to see a cancer specialist within two weeks,” said Ms Harman.

“The doctors and nurses – we will need the doctors and nurses to deliver those binding guarantees that are going to be there.”

Pressed on the matter, Ms Harman again would only commit to keeping enough doctors and nurses to fulfil Labour's manifesto pledges: “We are going to be keeping the number of doctors and nurses in order to deliver our guarantee.”

According to figures released by the Conservatives, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust plans to cut 23 per cent of beds, 343 nurses and 62 doctors, attributing this to a strategy of treating patients “in the community”.

The University Hospital of North Staffordshire and Imperial College Trust are among the other hospital trusts planning major cuts to beds, doctors and nurses.