Fallon Tory Vice Chair Lies on the NHS Cuts

50,000 NHS jobs could be axed

Michael Fallon MP (Sevenoaks) Conservative Vice chairman has insisted there will be “more frontline staff” in the NHS, stressing that figures from anti-cuts campaigners which suggest 50,000 jobs could go were inaccurate.

He called the figures released by campaign group False Economy as "shameless and deeply irresponsible scaremongering of the worst kind."

So here we have it the Conservative Vice Chairman has stated the NHS will have more nurses and doctors -

But given GP Consortium's plan to reduce commissioning in their local hospitals, coupled with the failure to meet the Tories pledge of 6,000 extra midwives, extra health visitors and cuts in nurse training. This is simply just another Tory lie

Will Fallon resign when hes caught lying ?

Conservative, Zak Goldsmith MP (Richmond) stated he would resign if cuts at his local Kingston hospital went ahead, but he now claims the 250 nurses who will lose their jobs are not cuts, they are efficiency savings so he wont be resigning

George Orwell couldn't have written a better excuse.

You cannot trust the Tories on the NHS

Miliband - Now Fight To Save OUR NHS

Ed Davey - spot the difference on NHS cuts

Ed Davey - spot the difference on NHS cuts

"Stop the NHS Cuts" says Government Minister. That was then in 2008. Now, Ed Davey has shamefully endorsed the proposed savage cuts in jobs and wards at Kingston Hospital. The difference is that now he is in government. Wrong kind of cuts...

“When a Minister describes a 10% penalty charge as a “Secretary of State allocation adjustment”, it’s clear we’ve entered a 1984 Big Brother world of “Newspeak”. Labour are simply desperate to avoid the word “cuts”, in case it seems as if we are going back to the bad old Tory days.“The truth is, these are damaging cuts to Kingston’s NHS, and they come from Whitehall. I hope local people will back my campaign to stop the NHS cuts.”

28 November 2008

The question is will local people back Ed Davey?

STOP PRESS.......

17th February 2011

486 Jobs axed at Kingston Hospital (214 Nurses)

Minister Ed Davey's response to the local Surrey Comet

18th February 2011

the cuts were different to those he campaigned against before the general election.

He said: "When the future of accident and emergency and maternity were in question the rationale for that was the desire to deliver savings by closing services.

"The rationale for a five year programme of efficiency in Kingston and other hospital trusts is to make savings to keep services open whilst also improving quality.

He said the cuts confirmed yesterday were totally different to the cuts threatened under the shelved South West London Review, which he campaigned against before his re-election and elevation to a ministerial post.

He said: "I'm not going to pretend this isn't a challenge, these plans caused me to ask detailed questions, but I actually have real confidence in the management."

St George's Hospital Cuts 500 Posts

THURSDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2011



St GEORGE'S HOSPITAL, SOUTH LONDON




SHOCK NEWS FOR PATIENTS AND STAFF AS GOVERNMENT SQUEEZE LEADS TO 500 MORE JOB CUTS

News that 500 staff, including nurses and consultants at St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust in Tooting, are to lose their jobs, is a terrible shock to staff and patients, said UNISON, the UK’s largest union today.

The Government squeeze on NHS finances and demands for £20bn in so-called ‘efficiency savings’, is forcing the Trust into making serious cuts in order to save £50m.

The cuts will lead to at least three wards closing with the loss of roughly 100 beds. The Trust is also capping the number of births at the hospital to 5,000 a year, e, leading to a significant gap in local maternity services, and forcing women to travel long distances to give birth.

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said: “Cutting 500 jobs and closing at least three wards is a devastating blow for staff and patients at St George’s . The shock waves will be felt in hospitals across London and beyond. “This announcement is more proof that the NHS is not safe in Cameron and Lansley’s hands and is reminiscent of Thatcher’s devastating reforms during the 80s and 90s.

Only 2 weeks ago, Barts and the Royal London ‚ announced 630 job losses, including 250 nurses and 100 beds cut. Sadly we are going to hear a steady feed of these cuts with the loss of valuable staff, beds and services in communities right across the country. “These job losses are collateral damage to a Government intent on pushing through the Health and Social Care Bill.

The reality is it is wrecking NHS workers’ lives and careers, and endangering the patients they treat.” Nurse Jane Pilgrim, UNISON Nursing Convenor at St George’s Hospital said: “This is a sad day for staff at St George’s .

We were told by the Government that there would be no cuts in frontline posts but in reality the NHS is witnessing swingeing cuts to frontline services every day”. The Trust is one of the largest healthcare providers in south west London . St George’s Hospital in Tooting is one of the country’s principal teaching hospitals.

The union is warning that the loss of so many jobs will have serious consequences not only on the local community and London , but on patients across the south east. The Trust provides treatment for specialities such as bone marrow transplants, complex pelvic trauma and HIV care across a wide geographical area.

UNISON will be seeking further meetings with the Trust to try to minimise the job losses and protect patients.

Michael Walker, UNISON Regional Officer, states

"In a week when the bankers are set to receive huge pay rises and multi million pound bonuses, we are going to witness the spectre at St George's of dedicated nurses, doctors and health staff losing their jobs. How can that be fair or right?"

Nurse Geoff Thorne UNISON at St Georges Hospital states:

"We were told by the Government that there would be no cuts in frontline posts but in reality the NHS is witnessing swingeing cuts to frontline services every day".

Geoff Thorne, UNISON St George's Branch Secretary stated:

"Before the General Election Andrew Lansley visited St Georges Hospital and gave a personal guarantee to staff that there would be no frontline cuts in the NHS"

Nora Pearce UNISON Midwifery Convenor states:

"Capping the number of births at St George's to just 5,000 a year will mean thousands of local women will no-longer be able to have their babies at St George's, denying them the back up and confidence they know comes from having a baby at an internationally renowned teaching hospital.

Michael Walker, UNISON Regional Officer stated:

"UNISON will be working with St George's Hospital management to mitigate the impact of these cuts on patients and staff. Mr Lansley needs to urgently recognise the damage he is causing to the NHS with these unprecedented levels of cuts".

"We fear these cuts are just the prelude to even greater cuts in our NHS when the Government unleash GP Commissioning and GP's are forced to ration care

"We urge all local Member's of Parliament, of all political persuasion’s to intercede and urge Andrew Lansley the Conservative Secretary of State for Health to halt these disastrous cuts at St George's before patient care suffers.

Kingston Hospital Cuts 214 Nursing Posts

KINGSTON HOSPITAL JOBS CUTS – 20% STAFF AXED

UNISON RESPONSE
THURSDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2011

Commenting on the news that Kingston Hospital NHS Trust is set to cut 486 posts over five years, including 214 nurses and 20 medical staff - 20% of the total workforce,

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said:

“This is a terrible day for patients in London, who have found out they stand to lose nearly 1000 health workers.

This nails the lie that the frontline will be protected, more than 200 nurses at Kingston Hospital will lose their jobs. “Tory claims to be the party of the NHS are nothing but a sham – how is this hospital supposed to keep on running with 20% fewer staff? “The job cuts at Kingston are a direct result of Lansley’s plans to hand over funding to GPs, so this deeply worrying pattern of hospital job cuts will be repeated across the country.

It’s time for the Tories to put the breaks on the reforms, and start thinking about patients.”

Nora Pearce, UNISON rep at Kingston Hospital, said:
“This is terrible news for staff and for people living in Kingston. All through the election we were told that the health service would not suffer frontline cuts – but now my hospital is set to lose more than 200 nurses.

This government is ripping the heart out of the NHS. “Ed Davey MP, and Nick Clegg both used the hospital as a backdrop during their election campaigns, but where are they now when we need their support?”

Michael Walker UNISON Regional Officer; Said:
"We will not hesitate to fight every cut to the NHS in Kingston, we look forward to working with local MP's and Councillors to oppose cuts, NHS cuts, that when they were in opposition they wholeheartedly opposed"

Irish Student Nurses Fighting Back !

Student nurses warn of cut backlash

By: MARTIN WALL, Industry correspondent
February 16, 2011

The Irish Times

Over 3,000 student nurses and midwifes have taken part in a rally at the Department of Health in Dublin today in protest at Government plans to

phase-out and ultimately eliminate payments for their mandatory 36-week placement in hospitals.

Siptu nursing official Louise O'Reilly said that nurses would punish those who made the decision to introduce the cuts in the forthcoming general election.

Liam Dolan from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation urged student nurses to tell their TDs that they would not vote for them if they did not pledge to reverse the cuts.

Mr Dolan said that the unions would meet with Fian na Fáil on the issue tomorrow.

Des Kavanagh of the Psychiatric Nurses Association said the decision to make the cuts was a final act of betrayal by the former minister of health Mary Harney.

He said the Opposition parties should be clear and unambiguous in their support for student nurses and that "woolly soundbites are not acceptable."

Minister for Health Mary Coughlan last week has asked the secretary-general of her department to carry out a review of the decision to abolish student nurse payments from 2015.

It is understood the review will focus only on the plan to abolish completely the payments from 2015 and plans to reduce the level of payments made to student nurses and midwives over the coming years will remain in place.

The Government announced in late December that it planned to reduce and ultimately abolish payments made to fourth-year nurses and midwives in training during their mandatory 36-week placements in hospitals.

They are currently paid 80 per cent of the salary of a staff nurse during this period.

The Department of Health estimates the cuts will ultimately generated savings of €28 million.

About 3,500 student nurses and midwives took part in demonstrations at 13 hospitals around the country last Wednesday against the planned cuts as unions promised to make them a major issue in the general election.

Wednesday February 16 2011

Irish Independent

Angry student nurses have warned politicians they will be punished in the General Election unless plans to abolish their pay during ward placements are reversed.

Up to 3,000 protesters marched through Dublin and staged a rally at the Department of Health over proposals to phase out payments to fourth-year students working on wards during a nine-month internship.

Security staff padlocked the gates around Hawkins House and senior health chiefs quickly left for lunch before nurses and midwives arrived en masse to hand in a letter calling on the in-coming minister to reverse the plan.

Louise O'Reilly, Siptu's national nursing official, told noisy demonstrators the cuts were a new low for the Government.

"We will hold our politicians to account and shame those cowards who will not pledge to reverse those cuts," she said.

"We say no to slave labour and we will punish those on February 25 who try to introduce it."

Student nurses and midwives are currently paid 80pc of the salary of a staff nurse during their mandatory 36-week placements in hospitals.

Tanaiste Mary Coughlan has asked officials to carry out a review of a decision to reduce and ultimately abolish payments over the next four years.

Four-year-old Ella Dowd dressed in a nurses uniform to support her mother Tara and aunt Maria, both from Swords, north Dublin.

Tara, a second-year psychiatric nursing student at Trinity College, fears she could be forced to leave her course if her pay is cut in her final year.

The 26-year-old lone parent already studies, has placements in St Patrick's Hospital, works weekends for an agency and cares for her daughter.

"This would make a huge difference. I'd probably end up dropping out because I couldn't afford to run my home, Ella's creche and a childminder for weekends," she said.

Maria, 20, a third-year psychiatric nursing student, added: "Next year I will have my own patients and will be administering their medications.

"That is a huge responsibility for anyone to have. Intern doctors will still get paid, why are intern nurses getting cut?"

Union leaders from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), and Siptu are holding talks with members of each political party, including Fianna Fail, for their stance on the cuts.

INMO general secretary, Liam Doran, warned his members and their families, who wield more than 200,000 votes, will be told the reply from each party before they go to the ballot boxes.

Fourth-year pre-registration nurses and midwives will also be balloted for a withdrawal of labour in early March if they do not secure a resolution.