MORE than 4,000 jobs are being cut from Merseyside’s NHS, a special Liverpool Daily Post investigation can reveal today.

And staff are bracing themselves for even further reductions as hospitals strive to meet multi-million pound savings targets.

Despite government reassurances, the figures obtained by the Post prove frontline health care is being cut, with nurses, midwives and health visitors among those axed.

An experienced nurse has also spoken out, warning that the situation in some local  trusts is “at breaking point”  and patients are being “put at risk”.

Our figures show that at least 4,001 fewer staff will be on the region’s NHS payroll by 2014, compared to 2010.

Many hospitals have drawn up workforce projections –  seen by the Post – but the true reductions are set to be much higher as not all trusts have completed this estimate.

Union chiefs reacted angrily to our findings last  night, and said frontline staff  were already unable to cope because of “constant short  staffing”.

At Fazakerley Hospital 250 positions went in 2010/11, and it is estimated a further 200 will be cut each year until 2013/14.

Alder Hey has already shed 197 jobs, with 74 scheduled to go in both 2012/13 and 2013/14.

And at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals 17 positions went in 2010/11, with a further 411 going between now and 2014.

The numbers include hospitals, mental health trusts and soon-to-be-axed Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).

Department of Health (DoH) data shows at least 236 nurses, midwives and health visitors working at hospitals and mental health trusts were cut in Merseyside between January and July 2011 alone.

Colm Byrne, regional  organiser for the Royal  College of Nursing, said: “Trusts say they are not cutting the frontline but I see the severance agreements and there are a lot of them.

“There is constant short-staffing, and this has been a growing problem for about 18 months.

“I get lots of emails about it and some nurses feel staff  levels are so low they can’t  offer adequate care. There is a body of evidence that shows a direct link between staff levels and patient care.

“Staff get stressed and then sickness levels go up, so the problem is magnified. It is only going to get worse if jobs continue to be wiped out.”

Paul Summers, regional  organiser for Unison, said staff are worried about the  future: “These losses will have a really detrimental effect on the services for the public and the staff left behind.

“They will have to do more with less resources. People are really fearful for their jobs, morale has reached rock bottom.

“People are taking voluntary redundancy because they think it is the only option, and often these are the most experienced members of staff, so  Merseyside’s NHS is losing so  much expertise.

“Whether its nurses, doctors, medical secretaries, we are losing a range of skills.”