Stop press news: City and Hackney Primary Care Trust issued seven compulsory redundancies yesterday, with more expected over the next couple of weeks.

Staff had spent the week not knowing if they would have jobs next Monday or not – and got letters hand delivered to their desks yesterday to tell them they will not.

Trust staff believe that these redundancies will have a real impact on service delivery.

Unions are strongly opposed to these redundancies – and are also very concerned that Black and Minority Ethnic staff have been particularly badly treated.