SEVENTEEN medical secretaries at Oxford's Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre have been told their jobs are being made redundant.

The staff were told at a meeting yesterday that they would have to apply for new roles within the organisation.

One of the staff members affected said: "There are 17 jobs, but they are all lower graded jobs than we have now. They're saying our pay will be protected, but we don't know how long that protection will last."

The Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust declined to comment.