Staff at Royal Berkshire Hospital are concerned about job losses as after the trust started a gradual switch from paper to electronic patient records at the end of September.

A medical records department employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, said no one has been informed about potential job losses resulting from this change.

The worker said that some ward clerks have been going on health assistant training without being told it is to change jobs.

She added: “We are not being told anything. They are all keeping their cards to their chest.

“The union have said they have not been told anything. They told us they would always keep us informed.

“We have a whole department which is medical records. We don’t know if we will have a job.”

The ongoing switch to electronic records, part of a national digitalisation programme, will allow all information about the care and treatment provided to patients to be recorded and stored electronically.

A spokesperson for the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said: “As with all services, it is important that we continually review to ensure we provide the most efficient and effective service for patients.

“We are in the very early stages of consultation with our Health Records team who will be affected by this change and would encourage them to talk directly to their manager, the workforce team representative or union representative about their concerns.

“The purpose of the consultation is to listen to our staff and provide them with the opportunity to comment, ask questions and provide alternative ideas to all aspects of the proposals.

“As part of the process will be giving all affected staff the opportunity to have one-to-one discussions with their manager.

“This is to ensure they understand the current position, have been provided with all of the information that they need and are able to raise any issues personal to them that they would like considered.

“Following this period, we will be able to inform staff of the final way forward.”

Patients' medical history and care requirements will be available online to all health professionals involved in their care in real time, in any location.