Crisis? What Crisis?
It was my recent misfortune to have to spend some time in an NHS hospital.
The care I received was excellent and the treatment successful.
It was clear, however, that the staff running the ward were doing so under extreme pressure.
Agency workers with minimal training sometimes made up 80% of the staff quota, particularly at night.
Today, in the face of overwhelming evidence that the NHS is in serious trouble, Tony Blair and his government says that things are improving...
A POLL by the Royal College of Nursing of 660 nurses has found that 13000 NHS redundancies have been notified in the last 6 months.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt denies claims that the job losses are almost double the figure announced.
Almost 60% of those polled say that they don’t have enough staff to deliver the necessary standard of care.
But Ms Hewitt says that “so called job cuts” applied mainly to agency and temporary staff and are reducing a “very inefficient and wasteful form of spending”.
The NHS posted a deficit of £600m at the end of last month.
The RCN also questioned 260 senior nursing staff, two thirds of whom claim to be under pressure, with 40% saying they would leave their jobs if they could.
RCN general secretary Beverly Malone says that senior nurses are under resourced and under appreciated.
“They are working extremely hard in difficult circumstances, in a whirl of deficits and relentless reforms.”
Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley said: “ I would like to reassure them that the threat of redundancy will be contained to as few people as possible and in many cases changes will be achieved through cutting down on agency staff, freezing non-essential vacant posts and redeploying staff into other roles.”
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/
YOUNG CANCER and leukaemia sufferers are frontline casualties of the cuts, as are the elderly and mental health patients.
In Taunton, Somerset, the local primary care trust has withdrawn funding promised to the cancer charity CLIC for a community nurse.
As a result, children with cancer and leukaemia are now forced to travel long distances for treatment.
And Avon and Wiltshire mental health trust has cut its number of beds to less than 40, meaning the frail and vulnerable now have to go further afield for treatment.
Close on 80 community beds in the Cotswolds have been closed to reduce deficits and a similar number have been lost in Felixstowe.
Due to ward closures in Skegness patients are having to travel 40 miles to Lincoln.
Minor injuries units up and down the country are being closed and those remaining are having their opening hours reduced.
Tory leader David Cameron told Adam Boulton on Sky News yesterday that the government had to realise the NHS was in crisis.
http://www.society.guardian.co.uk/
CHARGES of misconduct are proceeding against a senior house officer in Manchester.
The General Medical Council heard allegations that the doctor made no physical examination of a baby boy, who displayed “tell tale signs” of meningitis and later died of the disease.
Dr Kirsty Challen said says the family left the hospital before had time to “review” his condition.
The child and his mother waited at the hospital for seven hours it is alleged, but was only seen by the doctor once.
The consultation lasted only eight minutes.
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/
The care I received was excellent and the treatment successful.
It was clear, however, that the staff running the ward were doing so under extreme pressure.
Agency workers with minimal training sometimes made up 80% of the staff quota, particularly at night.
Today, in the face of overwhelming evidence that the NHS is in serious trouble, Tony Blair and his government says that things are improving...
A POLL by the Royal College of Nursing of 660 nurses has found that 13000 NHS redundancies have been notified in the last 6 months.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt denies claims that the job losses are almost double the figure announced.
Almost 60% of those polled say that they don’t have enough staff to deliver the necessary standard of care.
But Ms Hewitt says that “so called job cuts” applied mainly to agency and temporary staff and are reducing a “very inefficient and wasteful form of spending”.
The NHS posted a deficit of £600m at the end of last month.
The RCN also questioned 260 senior nursing staff, two thirds of whom claim to be under pressure, with 40% saying they would leave their jobs if they could.
RCN general secretary Beverly Malone says that senior nurses are under resourced and under appreciated.
“They are working extremely hard in difficult circumstances, in a whirl of deficits and relentless reforms.”
Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley said: “ I would like to reassure them that the threat of redundancy will be contained to as few people as possible and in many cases changes will be achieved through cutting down on agency staff, freezing non-essential vacant posts and redeploying staff into other roles.”
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/
YOUNG CANCER and leukaemia sufferers are frontline casualties of the cuts, as are the elderly and mental health patients.
In Taunton, Somerset, the local primary care trust has withdrawn funding promised to the cancer charity CLIC for a community nurse.
As a result, children with cancer and leukaemia are now forced to travel long distances for treatment.
And Avon and Wiltshire mental health trust has cut its number of beds to less than 40, meaning the frail and vulnerable now have to go further afield for treatment.
Close on 80 community beds in the Cotswolds have been closed to reduce deficits and a similar number have been lost in Felixstowe.
Due to ward closures in Skegness patients are having to travel 40 miles to Lincoln.
Minor injuries units up and down the country are being closed and those remaining are having their opening hours reduced.
Tory leader David Cameron told Adam Boulton on Sky News yesterday that the government had to realise the NHS was in crisis.
http://www.society.guardian.co.uk/
CHARGES of misconduct are proceeding against a senior house officer in Manchester.
The General Medical Council heard allegations that the doctor made no physical examination of a baby boy, who displayed “tell tale signs” of meningitis and later died of the disease.
Dr Kirsty Challen said says the family left the hospital before had time to “review” his condition.
The child and his mother waited at the hospital for seven hours it is alleged, but was only seen by the doctor once.
The consultation lasted only eight minutes.
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/
posted by Don Galloway at 12:34 PM
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