The assurance comes after the Health Services Union threatened industrial action at hospitals across the region, including Armidale, over a perceived lack of consultation from management.

Administrative staff will be offered voluntary redundancies as the health service attempts to cut up to 20 full-time mental health support positions.

The New England region is unlikely to be greatly affected by the staff cuts, with most administrative workers based in Newcastle and the Hunter region. But union secretary Gerard Hayes said industrial action would extend to Armidale and other regional centres if the health service did not provide more answers about the redundancies.

“It's a pretty heartless government that cuts jobs like these and won’t even explain its actions,” he said. 

“Patients suffering from mental illness need intense care, but the people who look after them also need all the support they can get.”

Mr Hayes claimed clinicians would be burdened by extra administrative work over the cuts.

“You cannot make cuts of this magnitude without degrading the quality of care.”

Mental Health acting director Martin Cohen said Hunter New England Health had consulted with staff from the outset and remained in discussions with the union.

He denied frontline staff would suffer from a higher workload as a result of the changes.

“Maintaining a high level of patient care and access to services is our priority,” he said.

 and we do not believe this would create significant changes to the work undertaken by our clinicians," he said.

"There is capacity within the existing administration function and some activities will cease to be undertaken or will be undertaken less frequently."