Health bosses have assured frontline services will not be affected with the potential loss of nearly 250 temporary jobs from the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service. However unions still fear clinical positions are at risk of being axed, and say if that is the case, cost savings need to be found elsewhere. The health service was this week revealed at a budget estimates hearing to be $20 million in the red. A total 247 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions are to be targeted over the next year, however the service’s interim chief executive Clare Douglas told the hearing these would be mainly temporary contract services.
