FIVE members of staff at the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership are facing redundancy after being told that the trust will be relocating at the end of the year.

The administrative staff, who are based at Jenner House in Chippenham, were issued with formal notices of redundancies last month after they turned down an opportunity to apply for specially created posts at the new Bath base.

The partnership, who will be saving more than £300,000 by not renewing their lease of their Jenner House office, met with union officials to consult on the plans where it was agreed that one staff member would be moved to the Green Lane site in Devizes.

A spokesman from the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership said: "As the lease on our Jenner House base in Chippenham expires at the end of December, we have taken the decision to relocate our administrative headquarters to one of our existing bases in Bath.

"During a period when all parts of the NHS are required to be cost-aware, we will be able to make a substantial saving of more than £300,000 per year by moving our administrative HQ.

"Six members of non-clinical staff employed in administrative roles have been directly affected by the closure of Jenner House and formal consultation about their roles took place with staff and union representatives.

"The remaining five affected staff were issued with formal notice of redundancy however we are continuing to seek suitable alternative roles for them within AWP."

Andy Cork, UNISON branch secretary said: “Moving the Trust base to Bath from Jenner house has led to a small group of staff taking redundancy offers as the move simply didn’t work for them. UNISON has worked through the move to make sure redeployment was offered to as many people as possible, and a fair redundancy process for those leaving. It’s important to recognise the service these staff have given the Trust.

“The move has been justified on savings grounds. Unfortunately the Trust must still make about £24m of cuts because the government has not provided the NHS with enough resources. To avoid the risk of many more job losses and a worse service for patients, the government must put the right money into our health service.”