THREE theatre managers at Barnsley Hospital have been put on 'gardening leave' after it was revealed the department was running at a £2.2m deficit.
The senior employees have been replaced by an external management team which has been brought in to improve efficiency in theatres.
Hospital staff fear theatres will shut and jobs will go as part of a planned restructure to recoup the financial shortfall.
A hospital spokesman said the board had made the decision to bring in new managers to prevent the deficit from worsening by the end of the financial year, at the end of the month.
A spokesman said: "We want to assure patients there will be no effect on the services they receive which is high class and always our top priority."
Full story in this week's town edition.
