UNION officials have expressed fears about the future of up to 40 ancillary workers after hospital bosses announced a ward closure.

Last week, The Northern Echo revealed that officials at the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust have decided to close a 24-bed ward at Chester-le- Street Community Hospital.

The £12m hospital, which is seven years old, only has two wards and is mainly used by elderly patients recuperating from treatment at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.

NHS managers said that they expect to need fewer inpatient beds across the County Durham and Darlington trust area because of an emphasis on treating patients more quickly, more effectively and without the need to make so many admissions.

Hospital bosses said NHS staff on ward two, which is expected to close next month, will be redeployed across the trust.

But the health trade union, Unison, is concerned about the 40 cleaners, caterers and porters who are employed by private contractors.

In this case, the 40 staff are employed by a Scottish company called Robertson.

Many transferred from the old hospital, which was demolished to make way for the new privately-financed building, and have spent many years working for the NHS.

Ian Daley, regional organiser with Unison, said: “This is a PFI hospital and we have members employed as porters, domestics and caterers.

“Whatever the NHS have said about protecting medical staff, they have not said anything about the staff employed by the trust’s private partners.

“We will be having talks with the trust about the security of our members’ jobs. We need to make sure that our members are redeployed,” he added.

A spokesman for the trust said: “We are talking to staff to identify their skills, experiences and preferences, so that we can redeploy them to other areas in the hospital, to Shotley Bridge Hospital or to University Hospital of North Durham.

“We are also working with the PFI partner at the hospital, which provides valuable domestic and support services, to see what impact the changes will have on these services.”

A spokesman for Robertson confirmed the company was in discussions with the trust about the changes.