NHS Tayside is on track to deliver its £30 million savings target this year and hundreds of posts have been safeguarded in the process.
The health authority has an annual budget of £750 million and Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said in June that up to 500 posts would have to go to make the required cuts.
Significant efficiency savings have now been identified within the organisation meaning the projected number of posts being cut has now dramatically fallen to around 200.
It had been expected that 158 nurses and midwifery posts would be lost a move that led to concerns over patient care and a further 156 administration posts would go.
Scores of other posts were also to be axed, but the efficiency drive has meant the health authority has been able to grant a reprieve to around 300 posts.
According to NHS Tayside, total savings of £27.5 million have already been earmarked and the remaining £2.5 million of cuts will be made without further decreasing the workforce.
Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said he was pleased that job losses within the health authority were less than initially predicted.
He said, “The news that most of the savings have already been identified and that the number of job posts to go is much less than feared was identified in the Tayside Annual Review it is very welcome news.
“The Scottish Government has said it would work with the health boards to put downward pressure on the number of posts lost as part of its drive to meet its financial targets.
“Of course, it needs to be stressed that this is posts not jobs we are talking about.
“No NHS worker is to lose their job. There are to be no compulsory redundancies in the NHS that is the guarantee that was given by the health secretary.
“The commitment which the Scottish Government has made is that there will be more people working in Scotland’s NHS at the end of our first term of office than when we came into office.
“I welcome the prudent management of the savings and efficiencies which NHS Tayside is making within its budget.”
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said the health authority was on target to deliver the savings required.
“We have a £30 million savings target and we’ve identified more than £27 million to date. Therefore, we’re on track to meet our savings target and are confident that we will achieve a break-even position.
“Earlier this year we projected we would have to lose approximately 500 posts, however this has now been reduced and we now predict a reduction of around 200 posts to help meet financial targets.
“We have managed to reduce this figure by finding other ways of making savings and doing things more efficiently with better outcomes using less resources.”