University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN), which manages Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital, has launched a Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) in an effort to reduce staffing levels without resorting to compulsory redundancies.
The scheme, which opened this week, targets corporate, administrative, and support roles. Patient-facing clinical staff are not included in the offer. Under MARS, employees can apply to resign in exchange for a severance payment. Unlike standard voluntary redundancy, the process does not require formal consultation.
UHN stated the approach aims to manage staffing reductions in a structured and voluntary way. However, unions have raised concerns about the impact on workloads and patient services if significant numbers of staff leave. NHS guidelines stipulate that such schemes must be time-limited, typically no longer than three months.
While not guaranteeing avoidance of future layoffs, UHN is using MARS as a first step to restructure and streamline operations.
