The New Worker
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 25th February 2011
THE NATIONAL Health Service is to cut 53,150 posts, including many front-line staff, according to research by the TUC-backed campaign group False Economy.
The research is based on figures for job cuts already announced by NHS trusts throughout the country. But there are many trusts which have yet to declare their cuts so the figure could climb a lot higher.
The figures make a mockery of Tory promises before last year’s election that Cameron would “cut the deficit, not the NHS” and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s boast that the NHS was safe in Tory hands.
The Con-Dem coalition has claimed that NHS cuts would not affect frontline staff but plainly frontline staff will be very much affected.
And even if the cuts did only affect admin and ancillary staff that would still lead to a much poorer service for patients.
Porters, cleaners, security and kitchen staff play a vital role in keeping infection low and patients safe and adequately and appropriately fed.
Then there are thousands of occupational and physiotherapists who help patients recover their independence and get back to normal life and work as quickly as possible. They save the economy £billions in sickness benefits that would otherwise have to be paid out.
vital
And secretarial staff are vital for arranging appointments and as an irreplaceable liaison bridge between patients and their consultants. Without their work waiting times would be much longer and doctors and nurses would have to spend long hours on paper or computer work, which would reduce the time they could spend with patients.
The False Economy report shows that:
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust expects to shed 1,013 full-time equivalent staff from 2010-15, including almost 50 doctors and dental staff, and 270 nurses, midwives and health visitors;
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is cutting 682 full-time equivalent posts between 2010 and 2013; 110 posts have already gone.
University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust is currently forecasting a reduction of 1,349 full-time posts from 2011-15, which is 22.5 per cent of its entire staff.
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust expects to cut 461 full-time posts by 2015 — a 16 per cent reduction, including a 12 per cent cut in nurses, midwives and health visitors.
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust plans to shed 1,115 full-time posts from 2011-14, mainly through natural turnover.
The cuts in mental health trusts are particularly acute, with cuts of over 15 per cent at the following NHS Trusts; Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership, Derbyshire Mental Health Services, Mersey Care, and Kent and Medway and Social Care Partnership Trust.
False Economy’s figures have been collated for the most part from NHS trusts themselves under the Freedom of Information Act but also include figures sourced by the RCN Frontline First campaign, as well as press reports and foundation trusts’ annual plans published by the national regulator Monitor.
“While most of the cuts are likely to be achieved through natural wastage rather than compulsory redundancies, it is hard to see how 20 per cent staff cuts — such as those planned by Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust — can be achieved without directly impacting on patient care,” says the TUC.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Dr Peter Carter said even though many trusts were facing financial difficulties, cutting jobs and services “is never the answer”.
Unison’s general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Losing 50,000 health workers will hurt. With fewer nurses on wards, the return of long waiting lists, and a rise in cancelled operations, patient care will be an early casualty.”