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.
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Manchester: Hospital bed cuts plan revealed
About 10% of beds are to be cut across four Greater Manchester hospitals to help an NHS trust balance its books - reports the BBC.
Staff at the Pennine Acute Trust were told of the plans to cut 221 of its 2,279 beds at a meeting on Tuesday.
The trust runs Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, North Manchester General, the Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary.
Royal Oldham will lose 69 of its 703 beds; 60 beds from a total of 664 to go at North Manchester; Fairfield Hospital will lose 55 of its 518 beds; 37 beds lost out of Rochdale's 394.
Pennine Acute Trust was £28m in debt last year and the bed cuts are part of a number of measures on its "recovery plan".
The Royal Oldham Hospital will lose an 18-bed surgical unit and 12 of 28 beds on an orthopaedic ward.
At North Manchester the cuts will include the closure of a 20-bed short-stay ward.
At Rochdale, a medical ward will be lost and at Fairfield an orthopaedic ward will be cut from 22 to 12 beds.
Roger Pickering, director of human resources and organisational development at Pennine Acute, said: "Our aim is as before, to deliver financial recovery, while minimising the impact on patient services and staff."
Staff at the Pennine Acute Trust were told of the plans to cut 221 of its 2,279 beds at a meeting on Tuesday.
The trust runs Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, North Manchester General, the Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary.
Royal Oldham will lose 69 of its 703 beds; 60 beds from a total of 664 to go at North Manchester; Fairfield Hospital will lose 55 of its 518 beds; 37 beds lost out of Rochdale's 394.
Pennine Acute Trust was £28m in debt last year and the bed cuts are part of a number of measures on its "recovery plan".
The Royal Oldham Hospital will lose an 18-bed surgical unit and 12 of 28 beds on an orthopaedic ward.
At North Manchester the cuts will include the closure of a 20-bed short-stay ward.
At Rochdale, a medical ward will be lost and at Fairfield an orthopaedic ward will be cut from 22 to 12 beds.
Roger Pickering, director of human resources and organisational development at Pennine Acute, said: "Our aim is as before, to deliver financial recovery, while minimising the impact on patient services and staff."
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Monday, 28 May 2007
Brown axe threatens 5,000 front-line police
Five thousand police officers are facing the axe because of a squeeze on public spending, the Government has been warned - according to the Sunday Telegraph.
The cutbacks would mean the loss of one in every 25 officers across England and Wales.
It follows a decision by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, to freeze the Home Office budget.
The alert was sounded last week by the body representing police authorities, which are responsible for police finances.
Bob Jones, the chairman of the Association of Police Authorities, told a committee of MPs that job cuts would have to be made following a tough financial settlement this year, in which funding for forces rose by only 3.6%.
He said: "It is very difficult to make reductions of this size without looking at overall numbers of police officers. You could be looking at a move from 141,000 to 136,000 officers."
Confronted with the figures by MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee, Tony McNulty, the police minister, said: "There will be tight years ahead... of that there is no doubt."
The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, warned that the removal of front-line officers would lead to rising crime rates.
Alan Gordon, its vice chairman, said: "Regrettably, Mr McNulty's comments came as no surprise to us.
"Chief constables are already recruiting cheaper civilians at the expense of police officers. A dramatic cut in front-line police will inevitably result in a rise in crime."
In January, this newspaper reported the concerns of Tim Brain, the Gloucestershire Chief Constable and spokesman on funding for the Association of Chief Police Officers, who warned that most police forces "will lose some police officers or police staff numbers".
Mr Brain told the committee last week that the police face a £656 million "funding gap" by 2009, rising to £966 million in 2011.
Ministers acknowledged that every £100 million taken from police budgets equates to the loss of between 2,000 and 3,000 police jobs - either officers, civilian support officers or administrative staff.
"The numbers I quoted are realistic and may even be conservative," Mr Brain said. "We will face severe operational challenges in the years ahead and could be looking at a decline in police performance."
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "More police on the streets means less crime. We've already seen the Government renege on its promise to provide 24,000 police community support officers, and now the public face even more cuts."
The funding gap discussed here represent a small proportion of the extra money the government has pledged to the European Union budget every year between now and 2013.
That will be an extra £2.5bn a year - a 60% increase over what we already pay - despite on-going reports of waste and fraud, and the inability of auditors to explain the "majority" of the EU's spending.
Are MPs really going to vote to approve the blatant waste of money that the EU budget deal entails, while police face such cutbacks?
That would be a very strange signal about their priorities to send to voters, which we will ensure will not be forgotten come the next election.
The cutbacks would mean the loss of one in every 25 officers across England and Wales.
It follows a decision by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, to freeze the Home Office budget.
The alert was sounded last week by the body representing police authorities, which are responsible for police finances.
Bob Jones, the chairman of the Association of Police Authorities, told a committee of MPs that job cuts would have to be made following a tough financial settlement this year, in which funding for forces rose by only 3.6%.
He said: "It is very difficult to make reductions of this size without looking at overall numbers of police officers. You could be looking at a move from 141,000 to 136,000 officers."
Confronted with the figures by MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee, Tony McNulty, the police minister, said: "There will be tight years ahead... of that there is no doubt."
The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, warned that the removal of front-line officers would lead to rising crime rates.
Alan Gordon, its vice chairman, said: "Regrettably, Mr McNulty's comments came as no surprise to us.
"Chief constables are already recruiting cheaper civilians at the expense of police officers. A dramatic cut in front-line police will inevitably result in a rise in crime."
In January, this newspaper reported the concerns of Tim Brain, the Gloucestershire Chief Constable and spokesman on funding for the Association of Chief Police Officers, who warned that most police forces "will lose some police officers or police staff numbers".
Mr Brain told the committee last week that the police face a £656 million "funding gap" by 2009, rising to £966 million in 2011.
Ministers acknowledged that every £100 million taken from police budgets equates to the loss of between 2,000 and 3,000 police jobs - either officers, civilian support officers or administrative staff.
"The numbers I quoted are realistic and may even be conservative," Mr Brain said. "We will face severe operational challenges in the years ahead and could be looking at a decline in police performance."
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "More police on the streets means less crime. We've already seen the Government renege on its promise to provide 24,000 police community support officers, and now the public face even more cuts."
The funding gap discussed here represent a small proportion of the extra money the government has pledged to the European Union budget every year between now and 2013.
That will be an extra £2.5bn a year - a 60% increase over what we already pay - despite on-going reports of waste and fraud, and the inability of auditors to explain the "majority" of the EU's spending.
Are MPs really going to vote to approve the blatant waste of money that the EU budget deal entails, while police face such cutbacks?
That would be a very strange signal about their priorities to send to voters, which we will ensure will not be forgotten come the next election.
Staffordshire: Dementia cases to double in next decade
The number of dementia sufferers in Staffordshire is set to soar by more than half over the next 14 years, reports The Sentinel.
According to research commissioned by the Alzheimer's Society, there are currently 9,537 people with dementia in Staffordshire - 6.8% of the population.
But the study, which was carried out by the London School of Economics and King's College London, estimates there will be 14,785 sufferers in the county by 2021, a rise of 55%.
And the number of younger people developing dementia is expected to rise due to an increase in binge-drinking.
Elaine Ivis, West Midlands area manager of the Alzheimer's Society, said the predicted rise was mainly due to the ageing population.
She said: "Dementia is set to increase by a phenomenal amount in Staffordshire.
"The first thing we need to do is accept this is going to happen. There is still a big stigma about mental health and also about being old."
But some under-65s suffer from dementia and the number is set to increase. At the moment there are 230 under-65s in Staffordshire with dementia. By 2021 this figure is estimated to be 243.
Ms Ivis said the Alzheimer's Society believed more people would suffer from Korsakoff's Syndrome, a brain disorder associated with heavy drinking, in the future because of Britain's binge drinking culture.
She said: "We need to start people thinking about how to tackle this challenge. We are recommending that dementia is made a priority nationally and locally."
So why are some of Staffordshire's MPs considering voting a massive 60% funding increase to the audit-failing EU, while local health services clearly need extra investment to cope with this looming problem?
More needs to be spent both on research into the causes of dementia, and on care and treatment facilities. Not on the wasteful and fraud-ridden European Union, which hasn't had the "majority" of its spending approved by auditors for twelve years in a row.
Find out whether your MP is going to vote in favour of the EU budget deal, and consequently restrict the funding available to local public services.
According to research commissioned by the Alzheimer's Society, there are currently 9,537 people with dementia in Staffordshire - 6.8% of the population.
But the study, which was carried out by the London School of Economics and King's College London, estimates there will be 14,785 sufferers in the county by 2021, a rise of 55%.
And the number of younger people developing dementia is expected to rise due to an increase in binge-drinking.
Elaine Ivis, West Midlands area manager of the Alzheimer's Society, said the predicted rise was mainly due to the ageing population.
She said: "Dementia is set to increase by a phenomenal amount in Staffordshire.
"The first thing we need to do is accept this is going to happen. There is still a big stigma about mental health and also about being old."
But some under-65s suffer from dementia and the number is set to increase. At the moment there are 230 under-65s in Staffordshire with dementia. By 2021 this figure is estimated to be 243.
Ms Ivis said the Alzheimer's Society believed more people would suffer from Korsakoff's Syndrome, a brain disorder associated with heavy drinking, in the future because of Britain's binge drinking culture.
She said: "We need to start people thinking about how to tackle this challenge. We are recommending that dementia is made a priority nationally and locally."
So why are some of Staffordshire's MPs considering voting a massive 60% funding increase to the audit-failing EU, while local health services clearly need extra investment to cope with this looming problem?
More needs to be spent both on research into the causes of dementia, and on care and treatment facilities. Not on the wasteful and fraud-ridden European Union, which hasn't had the "majority" of its spending approved by auditors for twelve years in a row.
Find out whether your MP is going to vote in favour of the EU budget deal, and consequently restrict the funding available to local public services.
Friday, 25 May 2007
Rossendale: 'Don’t stamp out our post offices'
The future of a number of Valley post offices has been thrown up in the air following the government's announcement that around 2,500 branches will close in the next two years - reports the Manchester Evening News.
Postmasters across Rossendale face an uncertain future following Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling's Commons announcement last Thursday that a fifth of the nation's network is to close.
A clearer picture should emerge following meetings between Valley postmasters and the Post Office Ltd pegged for the coming months.
Mr Darling argued that new technology and changing lifestyles were resulting in the entire network running with unsustainable weekly losses of £4M.
But Jackie Oakes, of Stacksteads Post Office said that, despite systematic changes in services such as pensions, her business had never been more vital.
She said: 'I'm still as busy as ever; we were a bit surprised as we thought that we would be less busy when the pension books went but I think people are more aware now of the banking services we offer and they make a point of supporting the Post Office service.'
There will be around 60 area-specific proposals conducted before a period of public consultation is launched; the final decision will be made by Post Office Ltd.
Jackie explained that Valley postmasters were currently in the dark over what would ultimately happen and were nervously awaiting news from the parent company.
She added: 'Basically all we know is that if they keep to the three-mile distance rule between post offices they could close us, Lea Mill and Britannia and that will be a catastrophe.
'The timescale is the next 18 months, but 18 months ago when they said they would close 2,000 post offices there was such a furore that they had a public consultation, yet here we are now and they are saying the same thing.
'All the postmasters have been invited to a meeting in the middle of June, when they may learn more, but at the moment there is nobody we can contact to clarify anything, so we will just have to wait until then.
'On a personal level, I live on the premises so this is really important to me.'
If government subsidy cuts cause local post office closures, can local MP Janet Anderson really justify approving paying the EU an extra £2.5 billion every year - much more than would be needed to keep local lifeline post offices open?
That would hardly be a responsible course of action on behalf of her constituents. Especially since the EU hasn't been able to get its accounts approved by auditors for twelve years in a row, so we're unlikely to find out how the majority of that £2.5bn extra EU payment gets spent.
Only holding her seat by a highly marginal 3,676 votes, Ms Anderson had better consider very carefully how voting to approve the EU budget deal would look to local voters denied essential public services that could have been saved with a little more financial support.
Postmasters across Rossendale face an uncertain future following Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling's Commons announcement last Thursday that a fifth of the nation's network is to close.
A clearer picture should emerge following meetings between Valley postmasters and the Post Office Ltd pegged for the coming months.
Mr Darling argued that new technology and changing lifestyles were resulting in the entire network running with unsustainable weekly losses of £4M.
But Jackie Oakes, of Stacksteads Post Office said that, despite systematic changes in services such as pensions, her business had never been more vital.
She said: 'I'm still as busy as ever; we were a bit surprised as we thought that we would be less busy when the pension books went but I think people are more aware now of the banking services we offer and they make a point of supporting the Post Office service.'
There will be around 60 area-specific proposals conducted before a period of public consultation is launched; the final decision will be made by Post Office Ltd.
Jackie explained that Valley postmasters were currently in the dark over what would ultimately happen and were nervously awaiting news from the parent company.
She added: 'Basically all we know is that if they keep to the three-mile distance rule between post offices they could close us, Lea Mill and Britannia and that will be a catastrophe.
'The timescale is the next 18 months, but 18 months ago when they said they would close 2,000 post offices there was such a furore that they had a public consultation, yet here we are now and they are saying the same thing.
'All the postmasters have been invited to a meeting in the middle of June, when they may learn more, but at the moment there is nobody we can contact to clarify anything, so we will just have to wait until then.
'On a personal level, I live on the premises so this is really important to me.'
If government subsidy cuts cause local post office closures, can local MP Janet Anderson really justify approving paying the EU an extra £2.5 billion every year - much more than would be needed to keep local lifeline post offices open?
That would hardly be a responsible course of action on behalf of her constituents. Especially since the EU hasn't been able to get its accounts approved by auditors for twelve years in a row, so we're unlikely to find out how the majority of that £2.5bn extra EU payment gets spent.
Only holding her seat by a highly marginal 3,676 votes, Ms Anderson had better consider very carefully how voting to approve the EU budget deal would look to local voters denied essential public services that could have been saved with a little more financial support.
Manchester: New debt crisis hits health trust
Mental health services in Manchester have been placed on the government's critical list - reports the Manchester Evening News.
Cash-strapped Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust which started the financial year £4.5m in debt, will have to report its financial progress to regional health bosses every fortnight.
It is the second trust in Greater Manchester to officially enter "turnaround" - a Department of Health initiative to tackle debt crisis.
MMHSCT, which has a historic debt of £1.9m and is already predicting it will be £2.5m in the red by March next year, will have to appoint an outside troubleshooter to find ways to cut spending and make savings.
New chief executive Sheila Foley said: "While we are disappointed with the decision, we are determined to use this opportunity to put the Trust into sustainable financial stability.
"We remain committed to delivering the agreed improvements to mental health services across the city."
The turnaround programme was started by the Department of Health 15 months ago.
Turnaround trusts have to produce detailed plans of how they will provide patient care and bring their finances in line.
The city's mental health services are set to undergo radical changes after a public consultation called Change In Mind.
Karen Reissmann, of the MMHSCT staff union's forum and a top member of Unison's executive, said: "Mental health nationally and certainly mental health in Manchester has been under-funded for many years, despite the obvious high need.
Cash-strapped Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust which started the financial year £4.5m in debt, will have to report its financial progress to regional health bosses every fortnight.
It is the second trust in Greater Manchester to officially enter "turnaround" - a Department of Health initiative to tackle debt crisis.
MMHSCT, which has a historic debt of £1.9m and is already predicting it will be £2.5m in the red by March next year, will have to appoint an outside troubleshooter to find ways to cut spending and make savings.
New chief executive Sheila Foley said: "While we are disappointed with the decision, we are determined to use this opportunity to put the Trust into sustainable financial stability.
"We remain committed to delivering the agreed improvements to mental health services across the city."
The turnaround programme was started by the Department of Health 15 months ago.
Turnaround trusts have to produce detailed plans of how they will provide patient care and bring their finances in line.
The city's mental health services are set to undergo radical changes after a public consultation called Change In Mind.
Karen Reissmann, of the MMHSCT staff union's forum and a top member of Unison's executive, said: "Mental health nationally and certainly mental health in Manchester has been under-funded for many years, despite the obvious high need.
Midwives ponder industrial action over pay
Midwives are to consider industrial action for the first time in their history over a pay offer in the latest sign of unrest among NHS staff - reports the BBC.
Midwives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been offered a 1.5% pay rise followed by an extra 1% later.
The government says this is affordable, but midwives want 2.5% immediately - as is happening in Scotland.
Union leaders have been asked by midwives to consider industrial action as nurses ponder a similar move.
Last week, the Royal College of Nursing announced it would be balloting members to see if they wanted to be balloted on industrial action.
Nurses are also angry about the pay offer and if they did decide to take action it would also be a first for them.
Delegates at the Royal College of Midwives conference asked the union's governing council to consider balloting the 37,000 members over industrial action.
The college said the average midwife on £26,700 a year was facing a cut of nearly £700 in real terms as the retail price index shows inflation is running at 4.5%.
RCM general secretary Dame Karlene Davis said: "This overwhelming vote shows the strength of feeling about this issue."
Midwives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been offered a 1.5% pay rise followed by an extra 1% later.
The government says this is affordable, but midwives want 2.5% immediately - as is happening in Scotland.
Union leaders have been asked by midwives to consider industrial action as nurses ponder a similar move.
Last week, the Royal College of Nursing announced it would be balloting members to see if they wanted to be balloted on industrial action.
Nurses are also angry about the pay offer and if they did decide to take action it would also be a first for them.
Delegates at the Royal College of Midwives conference asked the union's governing council to consider balloting the 37,000 members over industrial action.
The college said the average midwife on £26,700 a year was facing a cut of nearly £700 in real terms as the retail price index shows inflation is running at 4.5%.
RCM general secretary Dame Karlene Davis said: "This overwhelming vote shows the strength of feeling about this issue."
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