OFFICE workers in Devizes who work on NHS services for a private company face redundancy after the contracts were awarded to a new firm.

A total of 11 people who work at the NHS offices in Pans Lane are likely to lose their jobs unless they relocate out of the area.

At the moment the administration staff are employed by SBS but the Government has awarded a new contract to Capita.

A spokesman said: "We are currently undertaking a TUPE and redundancy consultation in respect of those staff based in Wiltshire who are currently employed by SBS. The consultation ends on 31st March with the site due to close at the end of June 2016."

In June last year it was announced that Capita had been chosen by NHS England to become the only provider for primary care support services such as dentists and GPs.

The £1 billion sole provider contract was said to have been put in place to achieve significant savings for NHS England. The company said: "Capita will introduce a common set of services, processes and standards to improve the quality, reliability and sustainability of administration support services. Accessible services and better ways of working will contribute significant savings in keeping with NHS England’s commitment to reduce administration costs and protect investment in frontline care."

But the change is not good news for the workers in Devizes and it was revealed in August that across the country that Capita planned to cut nearly 1,000 jobs as part of taking on the contract.

Unions involved in discussions were told that almost 80 per cent of employees in the primary care support services division would lose their jobs and 28 out of 30 offices would shut.

Under the terms of the contract Capita take on back-office services such as payments administration and management of clinical records for NHS primary care providers including GPs, opticians, pharmacists and dentists.

A spokesman for NHS England said: "The deal will create substantial administrative savings to reinvest in frontline health services, and will form the basis of full consultation with the employees involved."

Nick Bradley, national officer for Unison, told the Financial Times the job cuts were devastating and put three million patient records at risk. This would be because Capita would be centralising functions like payments to every GP, pharmacy, dentist and optician in England; responsibility for cancer screening services and all notifications to the public.

Dr Clive Peedell, leader of the National Health Action Party, also told the Financial Times: “The pursuit of private profit inevitably means staff cuts increasing the welfare bill and reducing spending power in local economies.”

The workers under threat of job losses in Devizes are only a small percentage of staff based at Southgate House, Pans Lane which is now home to the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

A spokesman for the commissioning group made it clear the redundancies did not in any way affect its staff and only those employed separately by SBS.