Reports say the opening of a new hospital could put hundreds of healthcare jobs at risk.

Unions claim the careers of more than 350 hospital staff are stuck in limbo, due to a lack of jobs at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) in Perth.

News Corp reports say 529 staff at the Royal Perth and Fremantle hospitals have been identified as “potentially more than required” by the state’s South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS) from mid-2015. Just 160 of that group have been offered positions at the new FSH.

It appears to go against claims by the Barnett Government that the $2 billion hospital will create “thousands” of jobs.

SMHS chief executive Frank Daly has stopped short of saying exactly how many workers he expects will be offered positions, leading to speculation that some of WA’s brightest medics and carers will now look interstate or overseas for work.

“In some areas, service provision changes are likely to result in there being more staff than positions available,” Prof Daly said.

“Where there are more staff seeking placement than there are positions available, a merit-based selection process is being conducted.”

The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) says the lack of security will drive nurses to look for work elsewhere.

“hardworking public health staff should not have to endure the job insecurity that has plagued the FSH project, amid serious and expensive blunders in its commissioning,” ANF state secretary Mark Olson asked.

“With more than 1000 ­people migrating to WA each week and an ageing population, how can this Government logically say that public health will need hundreds less staff in a growing area like (SMHS)?”

The Health Services Union says even those workers who have been offered positions at FSH are feeling anxious.

“Some of our members are still extremely confused about their new positions at FSH because the department has failed to provide them with the information they need,” HSU state secretary Dan Hill told News Corp.

“They have basically been forced to apply for positions at FSH with very little detail about the hours they’ll be working, who they’ll be reporting to or even what they’ll be doing.”

Australian Medical Association state president Michael Gannon says doctors are “week-by-week trying to tell the Health Department where they have got this reconfiguration wrong,” in order to work against “not just job losses, but services that won’t quite knit together.”

United Voice assistant secretary Pat O’Donnell said the “highly frustrating” reconfiguration process had yielded very few positive outcomes.

“We really don’t think this situation could have been ­handled any worse,” he said.

“It’s just been an absolute nightmare for our members and is causing an enormous amount of anxiety.

“And that’s just for those who don’t have jobs. For those who do have jobs it’s been a terrible process as well.”

The WA Health Department is expected to respond soon.