'£82m cost of NHS reorganisation'

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More than 700 staff lost their jobs in last year's shake-up, which saw the number of SHAs reduced from 28 to 10.

Figures obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act revealed 764 people were made redundant or took early retirement at a cost of £82.89 million.

Among those were 61 senior managers whose redundancy packages cost an average of £358,355, according to the BBC.

One chief executive's early retirement deal reportedly cost his SHA £900,000.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Inevitably there will be short-term costs as a result of reorganisation and it is right that NHS staff who are made redundant get what they are contractually and legally entitled to.

"However the long term benefits far outweigh any short term costs.

"By 2008 the NHS will make annual savings of at least £250m to plough back in to front line services as a result of the SHA and Primary Care Trust (PCT) mergers.

"These savings significantly outweigh the costs and could pay for, for example, roughly 50,000 heart operations."

Twenty-eight SHAs were set up in 2002 to co-ordinate care and deliver Government policy in England. They were merged into 10 bodies in a drive to redirect £250 million into patient care.