Difficult

issues must

be grasped.

I am not

one to

walk away

The two sides of the man driven by the need for efficiency in the

health service

MERVYN GUNN -- dubbed ''Dracula'' by some of the lowest-paid staff at

three Ayrshire hospitals -- is, by all accounts, a man possessed.

But he sees himself as a missionary rather than blood-sucker, although

still insisting on cuts in wages and conditions for ancillary staff

transferring on April 1 from Ayrshire and Arran Health Board to North

Ayrshire and Arran Trust.

He has been vilified in recent weeks as an arch agent of Tory policy

on privatisation, and questions have been tabled in Parliament about his

bid to ''circumvent'' EC rules designed to protect staff during

employment transfers.

As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. He is an

enigma, a chameleon. He is driven by the need for efficiency in the

health service, and determined taxpayers will obtain the best possible

value for their money.

However, he also acknowledges the pain and suffering that cuts of

#4-#16 a month will cause among his poorest-paid hospital staff and

their families. Unions put losses at up to #50-a-week.

Yesterday, his mission as an executive director of the trust entered

its most crucial stage yet with 51 job losses announced because public

workers' union Nupe rejected the wages and conditions package demanded

13 days ago.

The jobs will be saved only if all 719 caterers, cleaners, and porters

formally agree to the reduced employment package by March 31.

Mr Gunn, in an exclusive interview, stressed he will not abrogate his

''responsibility'' to achieve savings in the hospitals' ''hotel

services,'' with the savings going towards direct patient care.

''I am a pro-active manager, and believe difficult issues must be

grasped. I am not one to walk away,'' he said.

Mr Gunn, who at 38 is the health board's unit personnel manager at

Crosshouse Hospital -- and the trust's executive director of human

resources -- may live to regret such a hardline stance.

Staff, facing hourly rates of #3.29 slashed to #3.20; weekend rate

reductions; holiday cuts, and even losing maternity and unfair dismissal

rights, are unlikely to concede without a battle. Wider issues abound

for the entire trade union movement, threatened by Government rearguard

action over laws designed to protect workers' rights when undertakings

change hands.

The trust risks endless litigation over Mr Gunn's controversial

performance and efficiency schemes.

Legal action by unions and staff is expected to include test cases on

alleged contraventions of the UK's Transfer of Undertakings (Protection

of Employment) Regulations of 1981; unfair dismissal claims should

anyone be sacked for refusing new terms, plus compensation claims if

individuals are not consulted on transfers let alone the job losses.

Political fury will also escalate, amid claims NHS workers are being

thrown on the scrapheap to meet Government efficiency targets -- in the

trust's case, reputed to involve spending cuts of 2% annually.

Mr Gunn has an impressive track record, much of it gained abroad. He

is adamant he is not a right-winger driven by anti working-class

ideology.

He once held a trade union post for chartered accountants in New

Zealand, and also flirted with social work. His main objective now is to

meet patients' demands about services rather than those sought by

ancillary staff or any other hospital worker.

Mr Gunn first made his mark in New Zealand as an expert in human

resources with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells, chartered accountants and

management consultants.

He returned to Britain four years ago. Born in Leith -- the son of a

Church of Scotland minister -- he has degrees in art and history, and

until appointed to the North Ayrshire trust in July last year was a

management consultant with Coopers and Lybrand, based in London.

He was soon sent north, homewards, on efficiency studies for the

Scottish Office and, to name a few others, Scottish Enterprise, the

Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, the prison service,

and local enterprise companies.

Earlier this month, Labour MPs and trade unions called for his

dismissal after The Herald revealed contents of a letter that apparently

connived in a suggestion to get round EC rules so he could cut the wages

of ancillary staff at Crosshouse, Ayrshire Central, and Arran War

Memorial Hospitals transferring to the trust next week.

Mr Gunn sees the trust, responsible for #60m worth of taxpayers'

money, as the ideal vehicle to make a clean sweep of outmoded, expensive

hospital practices.

His staff-to-be are currently represented by 23 unions and staff

associations backed by 11 Whitley Council agreements on terms and

conditions.

''If you sneeze, it's covered by Whitley,'' he complained. ''We are in

a time warp. For the sake of improved patient care, performance, and

efficiency, we must win.''

Of the 719 in-house caterers, cleaners, and porters, some 364 are on

three-year fixed term contracts ending on March 31.

In theory, the latter could all lose their jobs if the new, reduced

contracts in so-called ''hotel services'' remain unsigned.

But unions could challenge -- and probably win -- such cases on unfair

dismissal grounds, according to legal sources, despite waters muddied by

UK laws that entrench EC regulations on transfers of employees.

The trust believes wage cuts are necessary to safeguard current job

numbers by removing the threat of competitive tendering.

It claims outside firms could beat annual in-house costs of #4.3m by

some #500,000 -- money that could go on direct patient care.

A spokesman denied union claims that patient care will be diluted, but

conceded Government efficiency targets mean ''the cupboard is bare'' to

improve staff terms and conditions.

He also admitted a bonuses' agreement worth 20%-33% on basic wages

will be removed -- because it is ''no longer tied to performance,'' and

even paid when staff are ill. The new deal offers bonuses of up to 25%,

but is performance-related and not applicable if absent from work.

Ultimately, a resolution must be found. Management, although

threatening 51 job cuts, has now agreed transfers on present

arrangements until July 1. Unions will decide on Thursday whether to

hold a ballot to accept or reject the reduced terms.

Some staff may seek a vote in the awful knowledge that, in the present

economic climate, someone, somewhere, would be found to clock in . . . a

la Timex, Dundee.