Two consultant surgeons are to be made redundant at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital as part of huge NHS cutbacks.

Up to 200 staff at city hospitals are now likely to lose their jobs over the next few months, it emerged last night.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust is facing a deficit of £33m and has announced plans to cut 600 posts, including 225 nursing and midwifery staff.

Now it has emerged that the trust has given two consultant gastrointestinal surgeons, one full-time and one part-time, three months' notice.

While between 150 and 200 jobs are set to go across departments at the John Radcliffe, the Radcliffe Infirmary and the Churchill Hospital, they will include only a handful' of nurses and consultants, according to Helen Peggs, a spokesman for the trust.

She said the redundancies would affect mainly administrative staff in IT, finance and estates, including a number of managers.

Ms Peggs added: "Any cuts proposed at the Horton Hospital in Banbury will not take place until a formal consultation period is concluded on September 4."

One of the surgeons, Simon Cole, is a former president of the Association of Surgeons in Training, while the other, a university employee who does clinical sessions, has not been named.

Mr Cole, who also carries out private operations for Oxford Radcliffe Private Healthcare and specialises in cancer surgery, was not available for comment yesterday.

Ms Peggs said: "A review has indicated a reduced number of gastrointestinal procedures, including hernia operations. We are, therefore, matching our capacity to the reduced use of this service."

Yesterday, Dr Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, addressed doctors at the British Medical Association Annual Representative Meeting in Belfast.

Dr Harris, who worked as a junior surgeon in the same department as the two surgeons 15 years ago, said: "Thanks to the superb skill of surgeons in Oxford, the Upper GI team has obtained excellent results for treating cancer of the oesophagus, which, in my day as a house surgeon at the hospital, had a far lower chance of survival than it does now."

Dr Harris, who was attending the conference as a representative of doctors in Oxford, said: "It's shameful that the careers of surgeons, which it has taken over 15 years each to train, are under threat when the NHS needs more specialist doctors, not fewer.

"It is crazy that NHS cuts such as these are judged by (Health Secretary) Patricia Hewitt to be a sign of success and efficiency."

Across the country, 15,000 job losses have been announced by NHS trusts in recent weeks.

Dr Helen Groom, a spokesman for Keep Our NHS Public in Oxfordshire, said: "If the trust sticks to its target of trying to reduce a £33m deficit, then some jobs will have to go, but staff are afraid to speak out because they fear they will be suspended."

The lobby group has welcomed the unanimous support of county council members for a motion calling for a halt to the health cuts.

Cutbacks planned at the Horton include ending round-the-clock children's services, closing the special care baby unit and closing operating theatres for out-of-hours surgery. Last Thursday, petitions signed by 50,000 county people opposing the cuts were handed in to the Government.