A West Midlands hospital trust has announced plans to axe 800 jobs as part of efforts to reduce its costs by #20 million.

The move by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust brings the total number of job cuts announced by the NHS in recent weeks to more than 7,000.

A spokesman for the Trust - which runs Birmingham's City Hospital and Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich - said the cuts were necessary in order to ensure that it "lived within its means".

The Trust's chief executive, John Adler said: "This year we will continue to treat very large numbers of patients and we will maintain our very short waiting times, which are well ahead of national targets in most cases.

"Nevertheless, the NHS financial regime means that we have to change the way we work.
"We need to work smarter, make better use of our assets and become more efficient and cost-effective in everything we do."