Health care cuts are 'half-baked' policies

Compulsory redundancies could cripple' our hospitals and cause residents' confidence in the NHS to plummet, it has been claimed - according to the Richmond & Twickenham Times.

According to research by the London Assembly Conservatives, as many as 2,500 jobs could be axed in NHS health trusts across south-west London, including Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond.

Tony Arbour, Richmond and Hounslow's Assembly member, said: "These latest figures show just how much this Government's half-baked policies are destabilising the NHS and making the work of local Primary Care Trusts and hospitals virtually impossible."

The research comes after a leaked Department of Health memo recently revealed there will be a critical shortage of nurses and GPs in the longer term. The memo contained proposals for 37,000 NHS job cuts across the capital within the next 12 months.

Tony Arbour AM added: "The prospect of job losses across the NHS in Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond will not only be unsettling for the staff themselves, but patients will also continue to lose confidence in the services the NHS should be providing at critical times in their lives.

"Kingston and the West Middlesex hospitals could be crippled if these proposals are implemented. I and my colleagues will resist them."

Kingston hospital, where many borough residents receive treatment, say they have been holding a number of vacant posts in anticipation of reduced activity or income and efficiency savings.

They confirmed that 20 clinical and administrative staff are at risk of redundancy, but claim that many of these will be redeployed into vacant posts within the trust.

A spokesman said: "The trust's consultation on workforce reductions has come to an end and decisions have been made as a result of feedback from staff and unions and it is vital to clarify that not all staff at risk will be made redundant."