ABOUT 50 positions will be lost as The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) acts to protect patient care from the impact of a $3.6million Commonwealth funding cut.

CEO Professor Christine Kilpatrick said half the job losses would come from existing vacancies which would not be filled.

The remainder would be a combination of redundancies and redeployment, with 12 staff notified today that their positions would no longer exist, she said.

“We treat the sickest children and those with the most complex medical conditions in the country, and we have a responsibility to keep beds and theatres open and to maintain the capacity of our emergency department,” Professor Kilpatrick said.

“The job losses and other measures we’re taking to save $3.6 million this financial year will be disruptive and in some cases painful, but we are confident that we’re taking the most responsible possible approach to meeting this unexpected budget challenge.”

Professor Kilpatrick said a combination of measures taken since the funding reduction was announced in mid-December would save $2.5million.

In addition to the unfilled vacancies and redundancies, the other measures had included a hospital-wide reduction in the use of agency staff and tighter processes around leave rostering to reduce the hospital’s liability.

A handful of staff had responded to an invitation to voluntarily reduce their working hours, and a number of departments had identified opportunities to reduce operating costs or increase revenue.

A staff-led innovation campaign and an ongoing organisational review would need to find the remaining $1.1 million shortfall in the hospital’s budget.

“The hospital funding environment is increasingly challenging, and further reductions are likely for the 2013-14 financial year,” Professor Kilpatrick said.

“The Royal Children’s Hospital is a great paediatric hospital and we do exceptional work, but to be able to maintain our quality of our care we must now become an exceptionally lean organisation.

“This is a difficult time for our staff, but we don’t have a choice around whether or not to act.”

Professor Kilpatrick said she deeply regretted the impact of the funding cuts on the 12 staff whose positions were made redundant today, and said the hospital would do everything it could to support them.