Staff have been told that the equivalent of four full-time sisters, four staff nurses and five healthcare assistants will be lost at Sunderland Royal, Ryhope and Monkwearmouth Hospitals.
They are set to be replaced by a hotel services manager and a sister.
Staff have not yet been told who will go but hospital bosses are asking for volunteers to be redeployed to other areas.
City Hospitals Sunderland, which runs the Royal Hospital and Eye Infirmary, announced in July it is cutting 500 jobs by 2008 to save £20million.
One staff member, who did not want to be named, said: "We are all panicking. There were people crying as it's three weeks before Christmas. I think it's disgusting."
A spokesman for City Hospitals Sunderland said: "No staff anywhere are currently at risk of 'redundancy'.
"We will be looking for staff to come forward and express an interest in redeployment.
"Posts going in one area does not necessarily mean those staff finding themselves without a job.
"We would reassure patients and members of the public that, while the trust is seeking to make savings, it is also looking for ways of improving the way all departments operate for the benefit of patients."
Paul Summers, regional officer for Unison, said: "We are concerned about the levels of service that are going to exist if cuts are made and the impact on the staff that remain."