TWENTY-two people stand to lose their jobs as three Dorset hospitals consider contracting out some office work.

It’s easy for other people to blithely say that the NHS needs to save money on “pen-pushers”. But first, we should reflect on the human consequences.

In these straitened times, a lot of dedicated public servants are finding themselves unemployed.

We reported just before Christmas on almost 70 DVLA staff who are likely to be made redundant in Poole. And of course, councils have been busy laying off all kinds of staff, from planning officers to day centre workers and from librarians to lollipop people.

When we discuss public spending cuts, we should remember that those cuts almost always mean people thrown out of work and families deprived of an income. And talk of “efficiencies” is usually a euphemism for the same thing.

If the economy doesn’t start generating jobs soon, the cost of keeping all those people on the dole might make those “efficiencies” look a lot less efficient.