Mergers. Turn of the screw

Managing the process of a merger with staff support and job counselling reduces stress. But the experience is not pain-free. The expectation that senior staff would be found other jobs in the NHS proved unrealistic. From a total staff of 6,000 there were 38 redundancies, of which 13 were voluntary. Early retirement and redundancy costs were higher than expected. Staff still show signs of distress a year after the merger took place.