Durham: Voluntary pay-off for NHS staff

More than 5,000 workers from five County Durham hospitals have been asked if they want to leave their jobs, reports the BBC.

One of the hospitals is Bishop Auckland Hospital, recently dogged by controversy with ward closures and cuts in services.

Claims have also been made that patients are being moved during the night because of bed shortages.

The Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the move was part of a constant review.

The other four hospitals operating under the trust are the University Hospital of North Durham, Darlington Memorial Hospital and two community hospitals in Chester-le-Street and Shotley Bridge.

David Fryer from the Save Bishop Auckland Hospital campaign said: "We're really very concerned indeed. I think there are now clear financial and bed management problems with this hospital.

"We have already lost wards. We have now lost services and clearly we are now going to lose yet more staff."

The Durham and Darlington trust would not say how many staff they expect to apply or whether compulsory job losses would eventually be considered.

Darlington: MP criticises town police

MP Alan Milburn has criticised Durham Police for a dramatic rise in the time it takes the force to respond to incidents in Darlington – reports The Advertiser.

Statistics from Durham Police show that the number of immediate incidents that were attended by police within ten minutes have fallen from 82.8% to 62.9%.

Mr Milburn said the response times were a ‘real cause for concern’.

The revelation comes only days after Durham Police announced that up to 300 officers could be axed from the force to stop them sliding more than £10m into debt.

Mr Milburn said: "These response times are not brilliant, and people from across Darlington have contacted me about this. I am very concerned about what I have heard."

The MP was in the Lascelles area of his constituency, where many residents were outraged when their dedicated beat bobby patrol was axed last year, despite significant rising crime levels on their estate.

Isn’t it somewhat hypocritical of an MP like Alan Milburn to complain that his local police force is not responding adequately, when it has been forced to make cuts due to a lack of money – while quietly intending to vote billions of pounds extra that could solve such local policing problems away to the audit-failing EU?

Such behaviour would surely expose his ‘concern’ about shortfalls in local policing to be nothing more than posturing, as he would appear to be unwilling to prevent public money that could help being instead wasted on the EU.

Durham: Police cash crisis forces job cuts in Blair's backyard

The Daily Telegraph reports that Durham Constabulary - the police force that patrols Tony Blair's Sedgefield constituency - is facing a £10 million deficit that could lead to a cut of 300 officers. That would represent nearly one in five of its staff.

This shortfall of public funds for essential services mirrors the problems and cutbacks being suffered by the NHS.

Yet the £10 million that's causing this problem is not even one day's contribution to the EU budget, at next year's net level of £115 million a week.

Is one day of the EU worth losing 300 police officers? This is the choice MPs will endorse if they vote to approve the EU's new financing arrangements agreed last December, when it comes before Parliament early next year.

The costs of the EU have swung wildly out of control relative to the needs of essential services directly affecting the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of people.

MPs need to send a clear public signal that Tony Blair's priorities in promising 60% more money to the EU last December are all wrong, or face the blame for local spending and service cuts come the next election.