NHS debt demoralising staff: Unison |
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Published
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Sun, 29 Jan 2006 14:15
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LONDON - The NHS debt in the country totals more than £1 billion and this is having a detrimental effect of the morale of the staff, according to trade union Unison, which represents a number of healthcare workers.
A Unison spokeswoman told BBC News that staff were not happy at the number of vacancies and at being asked to fill in the "gaps." The high level of debts is forcing many trusts to use agency nurses to cut costs. "We know there are problems around recruitment with posts not being filled and therefore newly-qualified staff not being able to find jobs," the Unison spokeswoman said. "It is having an effect on staff who are having to fill gaps left by agency staff."
She added that there were other cost-cutting measures like closing off wards and suspending operations. "Moving patients back into the community raises issues about who is going to take care of these people. You can't just move people out of a rehabilitation unit without giving them back-up care," she pointed out.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said that the 18 trusts that are facing huge deficits would be given "expert' help to get them out of this financial crisis. "I have announced decisive action to turn around the minority of NHS organizations which have significantly overspent their budgets," she said on Wednesday.
"In a small minority of organizations there has been overspending, in some cases there's been inefficiency and in some health communities there's been an inefficient organization of the way health services were provided.." Ms Hewitt added that the government would put the interests of the patients first. But these announcements have failed to enthuse NHS staff who seem to be resigned to the fact that the situation is not going to improve anytime soon.
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