Contractors are the hidden casualties of the NHS public sector cuts, one expert has said.

Trade Unions this week predicted that 50,000 job losses would occur within the NHS and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has underlined the effect this will have on locum and temporary staff.

Ed McRandal, the REC's healthcare policy advisor, said that the contribution temporary staff can make to the NHS needs to be focused on.

"As well as impacting on individual workers, the lack of effective staffing arrangements is increasingly compromising patient care and creating excessive caseloads for remaining staff."

Meanwhile, Mark Staniland, managing director of career transition services at Hays, said that contractors should educate themselves in private sector terms to keep afloat in a competitive jobs market.

He explained that they should think in terms of goals and end products of their work and adjust their use of jargon accordingly.