Birmingham and The Black Country Strategic Health Authority

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The summary articles in the table below related to the strategic health authority area are copied from the following pages, indicated in the table by key numbers.

  1. Charges
  2. Construction projects
  3. Resource shortfall Sources
  4. Treatment approval or not
  5. Withdrawal of Local Facilities - Sources
    Other
1 2 3 4 5

Summary articles
          Around 600 hospital workers in the West Midlands town have begun their seventh strike against transfer to the private sector, in a dispute which has become the front line in the growing resistance to the public finance initiative in the health service. Yesterday was the second full day of a two week stoppage by non-clinical staff at four Dudley hospitals, whose jobs have been earmarked for transfer to Summit Healthcare, a private consortium, in an industrial stand-off that is being claimed as the longest series of strikes in the NHS. At issue are the health trust's plans to hand hospital buildings and non-clinical services and employees - including porters, cleaners and IT staff - over to the private sector on a 40-year £80m contract. In return, the private consortium, which includes Siemens, Building & Property and Sir Robert McAlpine, will rebuild one of Dudley's four hospitals as a "super hospital", turn two others into outpatient centres and close the fourth, with a loss of 70 beds. Despite advice from the health secretary, Alan Milburn, last year that PFI contracts need not include the transfer of non-clinical staff to the private sector, Dudley trust management says it is too late to revise the contract, which is due to be signed within weeks. Guardian 23 November 2000.
          Tony Blair's carefully orchestrated election tour was finally disrupted yesterday when he was confronted by a woman raging about the state of the NHS. It was his first unscripted campaign encounter with a member of the public, as opposed to the carefully selected ones Labour officials present him with. He did not enjoy the experience. Sharron Storer, 38, from Hall Green, Birmingham, blocked his entrance to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham. She was distraught about the treatment of her partner, Keith Sedgwick, 48, who has cancer. Guardian Thursday May 17, 2001
          Drug mistake led to baby's heart failure.  Inquiry after hospital admits post-surgery error.  Guardian Wednesday March 6, 2002 [Birmingham]
          Hospital apologises after dehydration kills patient.  Colin Blackstock Thursday August 8, 2002 The Guardian [Walsall]
          The government will today declare three NHS hospitals [two in Avon, one in Birmingham] to be failing patients so badly they must be taken out of normal health service management and be run by contractors, possibly from the private sector. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday December 19, 2002
          The new year opens with the national health service one step closer to a historical moment: the first NHS hospital being handed over to a private company to run. Eighteen months ago, the chief executive of the NHS was slapped down by the health secretary for even floating the idea. Twelve months ago Alan Milburn - undoubtedly under Downing Street indoctrination - became converted. Malcolm Dean Wednesday January 8, 2003 The Guardian  [two in Avon, one in Birmingham]
          When hospital consultant Leyla Sanai became a patient herself, she was shocked by the state of Britain's wards - and not in the least surprised to catch a superbug.  Tuesday January 21, 2003 The Guardian [Scotland, with adverse mention of Birmingham and favourable mention of Royal Free]
          A failing NHS hospital is to be run by a chief executive from the private sector. James Meikle, health correspondent Saturday May 10, 2003 The Guardian
          A hospital trust in Sutton Coldfield will be the first to be managed by the private sector. Tash Shifrin finds out how it is taking the news. Wednesday June 4, 2003 The Guardian
          An NHS hospital in the West Midlands was yesterday handed to private management in the first deal signed since last year's announcement that firms could tender against NHS trusts to run failing hospitals. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday August 20, 2003 The Guardian
          Private contractor Secta today formally took over the running of zero star rated Good Hope hospital trust in Birmingham, as a three-year contract is signed. Tash Shifrin Monday September 1, 2003
  2       Balfour Beatty has been made the preferred bidder for a £521m contract to build a new hospital in Birmingham despite what it admits are glitches with similar contracts and a catalogue of problems on the railways. Terry Macalister Thursday January 22, 2004 The Guardian
          Poor care at a maternity unit, where midwives and consultants were at odds with each other and equipment was not properly used, contributed to three incidents in which babies died or nearly died, an official investigation concludes today. The inquiry by the Healthcare Commission into maternity services at New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton was triggered by the deaths of three babies and the narrow escape of a fourth early last year. The incidents, says the commission, contributed to a loss of public confidence in the maternity unit. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday June 16, 2004 The Guardian
          Hundreds of contract cleaners at a hospital with one of England's worst rates of infection from the MRSA superbug are to stage a one-day strike next month, unions said today. Employers Initial Hospital Services met the Unison union officials yesterday to present a new pay offer for about 300 workers at Heartlands hospital in Birmingham. A meeting of 100 staff last night unanimously rejected the employer's latest offer. Staff voted 96% in favour of industrial action in a ballot in June. The cleaners and porters currently earn the national minimum wage of £4.85 an hour. They want the same hourly rate as their counterparts employed "in-house" by the NHS at Heartlands' sister hospital in Solihull, which pays £5.63. David Crouch and agencies Friday October 22, 2004
         
  • A hospital has launched an investigation and suspended two of its porters following allegations that a dead baby was left in a basement overnight instead of being taken to a mortuary. The baby is thought to have died at the maternity unit at New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton over the weekend. It is claimed the body was stored in a box rather than sent to a morgue. The incident comes less than a year after the hospital's standard of care was criticised by the Healthcare Commission following its own investigation. David Loughton, the chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton hospitals NHS trust, said the trust had contacted the baby's family to express regret. Debbie Andalo and agencies Thursday April 28, 2005
  • Porter was disciplined over previous dead baby incident. Debbie Andalo Thursday April 28, 2005
          Fifteen hospitals have been hit by outbreaks of the new strain of the hospital superbug Clostridium difficile which has so far contributed to 25 deaths, ministers have admitted. So far there have been 75 cases confirmed by scientists at the specialist laboratory in Cardiff - the only one in the UK equipped to analysis the new strain - health minister Jane Kennedy said yesterday. The statistics reveal the outbreak of the new strain, which last week was confirmed at a second hospital in the UK, is much wider than originally believed. Hospitals where the strain has appeared are in: Preston, Birmingham, Winchester, Bristol, Romford, Southampton, Truro, Carshalton, High Wycombe, South Tyneside, Newcastle, South Tees, Sunderland, Stoke Mandeville and Exeter. Debbie Andalo Thursday June 30, 2005
          A Birmingham hospital has launched an inquiry after a consultant anaesthetist allegedly fell asleep during an operation. The doctor's colleagues are understood to have taken photographs of him as he slept during the surgery this month, and passed the images to managers at the Selly Oak hospital in central Birmingham. Sophie Kirkham Tuesday July 26, 2005 The Guardian
    3     A HOSPITAL in Wolverhampton run by controversial health boss David Loughton is suffering from crippling debts. Cash-strapped Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust achieved just one out of three stars in the Healthcare Commission rating. New Cross Hospital would have achieved top rating in the latest health watchdog review but for the debts, according to bosses. Mr. Loughton, who was chief executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, resigned from Walsgrave Hospital in March 2002 after a vote of no confidence. His departure followed calls from seven MPs for him to leave and a vote of no confidence by 99 consultants. The Rugby Advertiser launched a well-supported campaign to see his resignation. During Mr. Loughton's ten year 'reign' over Walsgrave and Rugby's Hospital of St. Cross, the trust was criticised in a Commission for Health Improvement report for putting patients' lives at risk with unsafe practices. It also said doctors feared being victimised for voicing concerns. This report was swiftly followed by a zero-rating in the Government's star rating system. But Mr. Loughton sprung back to become chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS a year ago. Rugby Advertiser 22 September 2005
        5 Goscote Hospital to close. Walsall Teaching PCT has approved controversial proposals for the closure of Goscote Hospital despite a long-running campaign by residents. Goscote is a 103-bed rehabilitation hospital with stroke unit. A hospice and an older people's care centre with 40 beds will be built in its place. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Walsall and Willenhall Chronicle 23 December 2005
    2     Hospitals feel pain of funding problems. The FT says the Department of Health's decision to review the St Bartholemew's and Royal London PFI project "is a symptom of a deeper malaise affecting large-scale PFI hospital projects". Patricia Hewitt has hinted that in future there will be more reliance on "LIFT" (local infrastructure trusts) and fewer big PFI hospitals. An NHS executive said: "My guess is that Birmingham, and Barts and the London, will go ahead. But they will be the last of the mega-deals". Other PFI projects that could be in doubt include the £700m rebuild of University of Birmingham Hospitals. Minutes from a board meeting of financial regulator Monitor show that the DoH asked Monitor to approve the scheme's affordability - a request that was refused on the grounds that the guarantor, not the regulator, should carry the commercial risk. Treasury officials are known to be sceptical about four big projects in Liverpool worth £1bn. Schemes in Bristol, Plymouth, Hertfordshire and Leicester could also be in question. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Financial Times 27 December 2005 (subscription needed to access FT articles)
  2       Walsall Manor Hospital PFI deal delayed amid concern over affordability. Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Sue James said: "Commitment to a much needed capital development is essential, but we must be clear how we are going to save money we need for the annual repayments we will have to make for the lifetime of the contract." The PFI project is worth £160m and will cost the trust £13m a year in repayments. The trust still intends to go ahead and contract with either Carillion Health or Skanska Innisfree. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of West Midlands Express and Star 4 January 2006
    3     n-debt trust aims for foundation status. Good Hope Hospital trust in Birmingham has a predicted accumulated deficit of £15.7m yet is hoping to get foundation status within the next three years. The trust was previously managed by private company Tribal Secta at a cost of £562,000 in 2003-04, but the arrangement has now been severed without compensation after financial targets were consistently missed. The trust has now entered a "management partnership" with Heart of England foundation trust, with whom it shares chief executive Dr Mark Goldman.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 5 January 2006
    3     Nurse cash used to cut hospital debts. The Birmingham and the Black Country Health Authority has been raiding a nurse's training fund to clear millions of pounds of debts. The authority has used up to £13m a year for the past three years from the workforce development directorate fund - central money for training provided by the Department of Health. Andy Reid, from the Audit Commission, said the cash was purposely saved to pay off hospital debts, including £7.8m at Sandwell and City Hospitals, £3.5m at Good Hope Hospital and £9m at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton last year. Mr Reid said: "Our discussions with officers indicate the underspends are intentional, used to secure financial balance rather than from inadequate budgets." The Royal College of Nursing also criticised the practice, saying that cutting training would reduce standards and impact on patient care. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Mail 25 January 2006
  2       Hewitt insists QEII Hospital will be built. Patricia Hewitt has insisted the £550m Birmingham hospital will be built despite uncertainty over the future of PFI. Managers at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston had expressed concerns about delays in signing the contract for a new 1,249-bed superhospital. Hewitt said: "The particular proposal in Birmingham is at a very advanced stage indeed. The final discussions are taking place between ourselves and the hospital now." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  PFI.net 30 January 2006
  2       PFI fears could scupper hospital. The chief executive of University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has said that the £550m PFI superhospital project will be scuppered if the Treasury asks for the plans to be scaled down. Mark Britnell said scaling down the scheme could add a six-month delay and up to £49 million to its costs - putting it "on the cusp of affordability". He also said the delay, while the government reconsiders PFI projects in the light of other health reforms, was costly: "Balfour Beatty are asking for another £6 million for February, and if we do not reach agreement by mid-February we could be facing further capital costs of £40 million." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 1 February 2006
          MRSA "hit squads" are to be sent into 20 hospital trusts that are failing to reduce the number of patients infected by the potentially lethal superbug, the government announced today. The move came as new figures showed the NHS is failing to halt MRSA infections, with 3,580 cases of the most serious type of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) recorded between April and September last year. There were a total of 7,269 cases of bloodstream MRSA infection between October 2004 and September 2005. David Batty, health correspondent Monday February 6, 2006 [worst are Sandwell, Northumbria and Aintree]
    3     £100 million crisis for health trusts. Front line NHS services in Birmingham and the Black Country are facing a crisis as the funding allocation from the government for the next three years is less than expected. The news throws into doubt a drive to address obesity and teenage pregnancies and reduce inner city health inequalities. The five Birmingham PCTs will receive £84 million less funding than they had expected, while Black Country PCTs have been told their budgets will be reduced by about £13 million. Total funding is still set to increase across the Midlands, but the money available to the PCTs will be less than was previously promised. The funding change is a result of the Government phasing out a scheme called the purchaser parity adjustment, which provided subsidies for regions such as the West Midlands that were under-funded in other ways. The reduction has been met with condemnation by local politicians and Birmingham Yardley Lib Dem MP John Hemming. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Post 15 February 2006
    3     PCT fury over lost millions as PbR compensation withdrawn. Primary care trusts are furious after learning that compensation for those that will see costs rise under payment by results is to be halved next year, before abolition in 2008. The change in policy, announced just two months before the new financial year, will leave black holes in their finances. Coventry PCT will be hit hardest with a £16.2m funding gap, and Huntingdonshire will be left with a £14.9m shortfall. PCTs in West Midlands South strategic health authority area will face a £53.1m gap, PCTs across Essex SHA will have to deal with a cut of £48m, and the four Birmingham PCTs are set to lose £20m. Norfolk, Suffok and Cambridgeshire SHA said its PCTs face a loss of £39m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 16 February 2006 
      4   Ambulance crews in drug row. Heart attack patients across Birmingham and the Black Country are not given the blood clotting Thrombolytic drug en route to hospitals because local PCT's say they are unable to fund it. Neighbours in Staffordshire and Shropshire are given the £350 shot which can prove the difference between life and death. The West Midlands ambulance service runs in both regions but is forced to treat patients from the two areas differently. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Mail 16 February 2006
1         Hospital staff in strike threat over parking. Staff at Walsall Manor Hospital have threatened to strike over increased parking fees and a lack of spaces. A Unison representative said: "Staff currently pay £26 a year but those charges have been increased since the start of this month to £60 or £120 a year. That is disgraceful in itself but we also have problems actually finding a space to park sometimes. Nursing staff on night duty are having their safety put at risk because of this and it is simply not good enough." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Mail 16 February 2006
  2       Plea for ministers to back super-hospital. Labour councillors have written to the Health Secretary urging the Government to back Birmingham's £559 million new super-hospital. The work is in danger of coming to a halt if the Treasury fails to make a decision soon over whether the trust - which runs the existing hospitals - can go ahead with its plans. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 20 February 2006
    3     Hospital facing £47.5m debt crisis. Good Hope Hospital could be under threat as a report has revealed it is forecasting a staggering £47.5m debt for 2006-7. The hospital only has an annual income of around £118m. Mark Oley, of the Eastern Birmingham Patient and Public Involvement Forum, said: "I am stunned and horrified by the financial problems at Good Hope. This Foundation Development Plan report shows that the hospital is unsustainable and recommendations are to make job cuts, close wards and make major changes. It will no doubt have an impact on health services across north Birmingham. Using the private sector to treat patients and the modernisation of the NHS by Labour to introduce new schemes have all played a part in undermining Good Hope's possibility to break even. This is terrible news for patients." Good Hope was the first trust in the country to be managed by a private firm, Secta. But the contract was terminated and the running of the hospital was handed to Heartlands Hospital bosses in October last year. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Mail 22 February 2006
    3     Closures threat in hospital deficit. Good Hope Hospital could close wards and operating theatres after revealing it is heading for a £47.5 m deficit. It is also planning to place itself under the control of the NHS trust responsible for Heartlands Hospital, effectively merging the two. In a damning confidential report it is revealed that the 577-bed hospital is currently spending £1m more than it receives every month. It says: "Good Hope Hospital continues to experience significant financial difficulties which are liable to deteriorate further in the context of current financial trends and the increasingly competitive market. If no action is taken then Good Hope Hospital could be looking at a total of £47.5 million to be addressed in 2006-7." The report sets out options for dealing with the problem, including demolishing buildings to create more car parking spaces to raise money from parking fees, and even charging for disabled spaces. The paper recommends closing two wards with the loss of 56 beds, and closing two operating theatres. It also calls for measures to ensure "unprofitable services" including accident and emergency, obstetrics, gynaecology and critical care, were financially viable. But even these measures would not be enough to solve the financial crisis and the report said the Department of Health would need to bail out the hospital. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Post 22 February 2006
  2       Is the PFI empire crumbling? As well as large PFI projects at St Barts, Plymouth and Birmingham being put on hold, regional health bosses are due to carry out reviews in the coming months into the value for money, affordability and need for about a half a dozen other schemes. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 23 February 2006
  2       Setback for NHS revamp. The future of health services in the Midlands has been "put in limbo" with a second major multi-million-pound development under threat due to the Government's review of the PFI. Plans to revamp healthcare across west Birmingham and the Black Country with new hospitals and changes to Sandwell and City Hospitals have been put on hold. The postponed consultation exercise would have looked at proposals to either refurbish existing hospitals or build five new community hospitals and a new hospital in Smethwick. Birmingham's £550m superhospital is also on hold because of the problems of PFI. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Mail 24 February 2006
        5 Hospital patients face longer trips. Patients suffering from serious heart and cancer conditions in Walsall face longer trips to receive treatment under new health proposals. The controversial plans to revamp the NHS involve specialist cancer and cardiac centres at Wolverhampton's New Cross taking in most patients meaning more people will have to trek across the region for care. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  West Midlands Express & Star 24 February 2006
    3     Wards go in £21m hospital savings. Managers of Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield have agreed on to radical cost-cutting measures including a loss of beds, wards and buildings, to make potential savings of £21 million a year. The hospital says the measures are needed to prevent a worst-case scenario deficit of £47.5m next year. The savings are deemed necessary to achieve foundation trust status by 2008, as the government requires. It is envisaged that this will involve a merger with Heartlands Hospital. The cuts will mean the Sheldon Unit, which houses opthalmology, oncology, neurological and stroke services, and an elderly care rehabilitation centre, will be closed along with the Education Centre. These services will be provided in the hospital's treatment centre. Disused office buildings and medical staff accommodation will be demolished to make way for 200 new car parking spaces to generate revenue. A £500,000 temporary operating theatre, the Vanguard Theatre, which the trust opened in November 2004, will also be closed. 80 jobs will be lost. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 28 February 200
          Panel to tackle PbR gaming. Birmingham and the Black Country SHA has set up a payment by results panel to arbitrate on disputes between primary care and acute trusts. Eastern Birmingham PCT director of finance contracting Mike Bailey said disputes between PCTs and acute trusts had increased, including a trust that charged for activities not previously coded, landing the PCT with an £800,000 bill, and massive increases in clinical codes. In one trust, new patients with co-morbidities rose by 260%. In another, babies with minor diagnoses increased by 540%. He said: "All these attract higher payments. I have not come across any decreases in charges due to coding." Meanwhile the Audit Commission is developing an assurance regime to oversee practice-based commissioning, to prevent gaming. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 9 March 2006
  2       Super hospital delays prove costly. Government delay in approving Birmingham's £559m super hospital is to cost taxpayers an extra £1 million a week. Bosses at University Hospital Trust have revealed the NHS will pay out an extra £1m per week to building company, Consort, from next week for the cost of more delays. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Mail 10 March 2006
    3     Hospital Trust faces merger. The Heart of England Foundation Trust, which comprises Solihull and Heartlands Hospitals, could be merged with the failing Good Hope Hospital as part of rescue measures to curb a £11.6 million budget deficit. Clive Wilkinson, Heart of England Trust chairman, confirmed that an affiliation between the two trusts is an option. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Solihull News 13 March 2006
    3     Top-level talks over health crisis. Birmingham MPs are having a crisis meeting with Patricia Hewitt over the West Midlands health economy. Of prime concern are Good Hope Hospital, which is to close two wards losing more than 50 beds and an operating theatre to save £21 million a year, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which is still awaiting approval for its PFI scheme. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Mail 16 March 2006
    3     Bosses face questions over hospital cash crisis. Eastern Birmingham Patient and Public Involvement Forum is holding a meeting to enable people to raise their concerns over Good Hope Hospital's financial crisis. It will be held on Wednesday at Fellowship Hall, in Sutton Coldfield. Mark Oley from the forum said it would be sending out 2,000 questionnaires to local people in "the largest research programme ever attempted by a patient's forum in the UK". It has also commissioned independent academic research into the crisis at Good Hope by the University of Northumbria. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 18 March 2006
  2       Why taxpayers may get huge PFI hospital bill. Taxpayers could end up picking up the bill for costs incurred by contractors if the Treasury refuse to approve plans for Birmingham's £559 million 'super hospital'. A leaked letter from the Department of Health states it, and not the University Hospital Birmingham foundation trust, will compensate the private sector partner for any costs if the project does not get the go-ahead. From this month the project faces mounting building costs of £1.5 million a week. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 18 March 2006
    3     Thousands more jobs may go as crisis hits NHS Direct. Hundreds of jobs could be lost at NHS Direct, the telephone and online service, as it becomes the latest arm of the health service to report a deficit. Cost-cutting proposals include an immediate recruitment freeze, compulsory redundancies and the closure of some call centres. Meanwhile the RCN has warned that there could be 5,000 more job losses in the West Midlands alone, on top of the 1,000 jobs cut by the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, because of "huge problems" at hospitals such as Good Hope and City Hospital in Birmingham, New Cross in Wolverhampton, and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Telegraph 18 March 2006
    3     Axe falls on 300 jobs at cash-strapped New Cross Hospital. About 300 jobs are to be cut at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton to claw back some of its £38m deficit. Hospital chief executive David Loughton said: "It is clear that to hit revised financial targets, there will need to be job losses, as the trust is anticipating the effect of the tariff for 2006/ 07 will worsen the current financial position." He said some of the job losses may be compulsory redundancies. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 22 March 2006
    3     NHS job cuts 'flavour of month'. John Lister of London Health Emergency has said that NHS jobs cuts will be the "flavour of the month" now that hospitals have "broken the silence" over redundancies. John Lister said: "The contradictory policies which put them in this situation are still in place and the government is pulling trusts in different directions." Meanwhile unions said they feared further job cuts at Birmingham Women's Hospital after it was revealed 13 jobs are to be lost. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 23 March 2006
1         Hospital car parks make millions. Hospitals in England are each charging their patients up to £1.5m a year for car parking. Twelve hospital trusts each raised over £1m in charges, figures obtained by the BBC from the Department of Health under the Freedom of Information Act show. University Hospital Birmingham, raised £1.5 million from car parking charges in 2004-5; Cambridge University NHS Foundation Trust raised more than £1m; Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust raised just over £1m; Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust raised more than £1.2m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 28 March 2006
          Bid process rules GPs out of race. GPs have hit out at a tendering process for three Birmingham practices which they say favours private providers. Interested parties must complete a 38-page form requiring detailed legal and financial information just to get the go-ahead to apply for APMS contracts for two singlehanded surgeries and a new 10,000 patient practice. Dr Vijay Abrol, a GP in Birmingham, said the process was a "concerted effort on the part of Heart of Birmingham PCT to discourage the average doctor from applying". Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Pulse 28 March 2006
  2       Services cut fear on new hospital. The chief executive of Birmingham's planned super-hospital has said that some of the planned clinical services may have to be cut if the £559 million project is to get government approval. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 29 March 2006
          Good NHS trusts to bail out bad. Health trusts in the Midlands have been told to deposit £187 million into the central NHS Bank to help bail out debt-hit counterparts in the region. The "one-off" plan for primary care trusts has been designed to ensure NHS organisations balance their books by March 2007. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 4 April 2006
    3     NHS budget crisis hits community matrons. Community matron schemes are beginning to suffer the effects of the NHS cash crisis. Walsall Teaching PCT, despite having a budget in the black, has been forced to severely cut back its expansion plans for community matrons in order to hand over £9.9m to bail out other PCTs in the area. It will now invest £400,000 extra instead of £750,000. The PCT has also had to curtail investment in public health. The trust planned to spend £1.5m on initiatives. This has been scaled back to £685,000. A PCT spokesman said: "To be honest if we had had more notice about the required £9.9m then this is not how we would have cut back. But we were forced into pragmatic decisions on what funds were not already committed." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Independent Nurse 11 April 2006
    3     Hundreds more hospital jobs to go. Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust is to shed up to 800 jobs at its three Birmingham and Black Country sites. This represents more than 10% of its 7,000 staff. The trust, which runs City, Sandwell and Rowley Regis hospitals, aims to save up to £20m in the next year. It had already lost 200 jobs last year. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 13 April 2006
  2       Go-ahead for £1bn hospital schemes. Ministers have given the green light to two redevelopments of hospitals in Birmingham and St Helens costing £1bn. A new acute hospital and mental health facilities will open to patients under the £690m Birmingham scheme, which will provide 1,231 beds, as well as accident and emergency, specialist burns and transplant wards, a decontamination suite and operating theatres. The £338m St Helens scheme would see the development of St Helens and Whiston hospitals in Merseyside, including a new diagnostic treatment centre and a 963-bed hospital. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Financial Times 13 April 2006
    3     320 more NHS jobs axed. More than 300 jobs are to be axed across three hospitals in Sandwell and Birmingham and wards closed to stave off a £6million cash crisis. The jobs will be lost at Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich, Rowley Regis Hospital and City Hospital in Birmingham. A source said: "The jobs are set to go in July but this is likely to only be part of the first phase - there could be more jobs going later." The news comes after plans to close the new £20 million accident and emergency unit at Sandwell General. Meanwhile Wolverhampton Eye Infirmary is to shed 21 staff as part of cuts by the city's hospital trust. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  West Midlands Express & Star 13 April 2006
    3     Four children's hospitals have warned health ministers they will have to cut specialist services because of miscalculations in the new payments-by-results system championed by Tony Blair as part of his NHS reforms. The threat to specialist services for children was revealed by the Liberal Democrats, who released papers showing children's trusts have told ministers they will have to cut services because they claim they are facing a £22m shortfall in the new financial year. The letter was sent by the chairs and chief executives of Great Ormond Street, Alder Hey, Birmingham and Sheffield hospitals. Together the four hospitals form the National Children's Health Alliance, and they claim the proposed funding will damage the provision of cardiac surgery, neurosurgery and spinal surgery.  Patrick Wintour, political editor Tuesday April 18, 2006 The Guardian
    3     800 hospital jobs axed as NHS crisis goes. John Adler, chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, has said that payment by results is partly to blame for the need to lose 800 jobs and close up to 90 beds. The cuts will include frontline health staff, including consultants, and compulsory redundancies are likely. Adler said: "It would be fanciful to say there will be no impact on patient services." Lib Dem MP John Hemming said: "Patricia Hewitt should do the decent thing and step down, and let someone competent take care of our national health service." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 18 April 2006
    3     Children's hospitals 'at risk' from tariff system. Four children's hospitals have warned health ministers they will have to cut specialist services because of miscalculations in the new payments by results system that will see them face a £22m shortfall in this financial year. The letter to ministers was sent by the chairs and chief executives of Great Ormond Street, Alder Hey, Birmingham and Sheffield hospitals, who together form the National Children's Health Alliance. It says: "We are extremely concerned that vital specialist paediatric capacity, particularly in surgical specialities, will be lost at regional and national level this year, which will lead to public concern. The new opportunities presented by choice and through payment-by-results should be benefiting young people and children, but quite the reverse seems to be the case. Our trusts are increasingly the only place of choice for parents whose children need specialist paediatric care." The trusts blame the "inaccurate and highly insensitive tariff" under payments by results. To make ends meet, they say, they will have to identify those services on which they stand to lose most money and stop providing them. Obvious candidates include heart, brain and spinal surgery. "We are extremely concerned that vital specialist paediatric capacity, particularly in surgical specialties, will be lost at regional and national levels this year, which will lead to public concern."  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Times 18 April 2006
          Up to a third of dentists won't sign NHS contract. Nearly a third of dentists in some parts of England have refused to sign new NHS contracts - contradicting a recent statement by Tony Blair that "about 90 to 95%" of dentists had signed up. A leaked government document, showing exactly how many dentists in each area have taken up the contracts, reveals that in the south west, 29% of dentists have refused to sign up; in the Thames Valley, 15%; in Hampshire, 18%; in Yorkshire, 23%; and in the West Midlands, 24%. In south-west London, the figure is 12%; in Manchester, 11%; in Kent, 14%; and in Dorset, 15%. In Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, 23% have not signed up. Of the 9,419 contracts offered in England, 1,096 have been rejected, including some covering more than one dentist - a national average of 12% more than Mr Blair's claim.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Telegraph 16 April 2006
    3     Children's hospital to close ward. Birmingham Children's Hospital is planning to close a ward in order to save £800,000. The hospital wants to move some services to the Park View Clinic, a mental health centre in Moseley. Mark Oley from Patient and Public Involvement Forum, said: "The consultants have told us that the management are not listening to their views. These are psychiatrists who are saying to the hospital managers, who are not psychiatrists, they are administrators: 'don't do this', and the hospital managers are not listening." The hospital says it does not amount to a cut. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 24 April 2006
          Treatment centre programme in disarray as contracts axed. The DoH has been forced to scrap a large swathe of its second-wave independent treatment centre programme nearly a year after it invited private sector organisations to bid for the lucrative contracts. Seven of the 24 local schemes have been axed, with the rest being delayed by up to a year. Those axed include two of the most high profile schemes, in South Yorkshire. The climbdown came after the DoH was forced to acknowledge claims by SHAs and PCTs that more elective capacity was not needed in their regions. Companies bidding for the work received letters from the DoH's commercial directorate saying: "It has become clear for a variety of reasons that the detailed make-up of the schemes needs to be reviewed and that these schemes will not go ahead as part of the phase-two procurement programme. We are currently exploring options to replace the capacity of these schemes." The DoH has told private providers that the monetary value of the schemes - £550m worth of work per year - will still be guaranteed. Meanwhile the other 17 remaining schemes have been delayed for up to a year. NHS Confederation policy director Nigel Edwards said: "What is becoming increasingly clear is that the level of surgical elective capacity is enough, if not too much. The problem is now one of patient flow rather than capacity, and there has been a growing anxiety that too much capacity had been procured and this has become a big issue." The second part of the wave two contract, known as the 'extended choice network', under which the DoH was set to buy elective services on top of the initial national schemes, has also been delayed indefinitely. However, the diagnostic element of the second wave is unaffected. The cancelled projects are: County Durham and Tees Valley - multi-specialty treatment centre; Birmingham and the Black Country - Birmingham City treatment centre to be housed on site at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals trust; South Yorkshire - cardiology treatment centre; South Yorkshire - general surgery treatment centre; South West Peninsula - multi-specialty mobile unit; West Yorkshire - plastic surgery unit; West Yorkshire - multi-specialty treatment centre. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 27 April 2006
    3     Fury as 200 beds to go. Almost 200 beds will go at hospitals across the Black Country in response to the cash crisis. Dudley's main hospital, Russell's Hall, has admitted it will close one ward with the loss of 36 beds. It will be merging its inpatient diabetic services and respiratory unit in a bid to save £2m. Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital will close two wards with the loss of 56 beds. Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust have already announced that four wards will close, with 90 beds, in a bid to save £20m. Bosses have insisted there will be no job losses with workers given the chance to apply for vacant posts in the trust. But the decision has caused uproar among staff. One nurse at Russells Hall Hospital said: "They're trying to make out that it's all rosy with the NHS in Dudley, but I think this shows the truth." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  West Midlands Express & Star 3 May 2006
    3     Women's NHS trust cutting 95 jobs. Birmingham Women's Health Care NHS Trust is to cut 95 jobs to save £1.5m. The jobs are to go at Birmingham Women's Hospital in Metchley Park Road. Compulsory redundancies are on the cards. The trust ended the last financial year in surplus, but says it has to make savings to avoid a deficit this year. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 5 May 2006
  2       Health reforms 'wasted millions'. Some key government health reforms have been criticised for costing millions of pounds but bringing few benefits. Schemes to build NHS hospitals with the private sector will leave companies with windfall profits of £3.3bn, pressure group Health Emergency claims. firms involved with NHS PFI projects are "bleeding" millions of pounds in profits. According to a Health Emergency report three recently approved PFI schemes in London, St Helens and Birmingham would net the companies £440 million in profits. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 10 May 2006
    3     How NHS trust will shed 800 jobs. Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell and Birmingham's City hospitals, has revealed that the first 300 staff to go in the cuts will be chosen by the end of the month. Four wards, with a total of 90 beds, will also be shut down by that date. A selection process has been drawn up for compulsory redundancies. Those who have served the least amount of time, perform badly, will not adapt to new duties, are bad time-keepers and have the least qualifications will be most likely to lose their jobs. Plus and minus points will be given for everything from whether they have had warnings or disciplinary hearings to the speed they work. People with the most points will be safest. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Birmingham Post 10 May 2006
  2       Deficit could derail £165m PFI plan. Walsall Hospitals trust's £165m private finance initiative project is in jeopardy because the trust said it could not afford the £13m annual costs, spread over 30 years, in the current financial climate. The trust is facing a £9m deficit this year because of the revised tariff for payment by results - despite recovering a £13m deficit last year to finish in balance. Its PFI project has been reduced by nearly 250 beds from its original 603. Chief executive Sue James said PFI and payment by results were "mutually exclusive": "Given that the tariff is largely based on average costs, and the average cost of NHS capital is 3.5 per cent while the average cost of PFI capital is around 16.5 per cent, it is unlikely PFI schemes can be affordable unless they enable major cost savings or increased activity. Much of the savings earmarked to fund potential PFI schemes could be needed to balance the books." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 11 May 2006
    3     NHS Budget Cut By £12 Million. Dudley's two PCTs will receive £12m less than expected this year. The trusts attributed the cut to the governments recouping of a top slice of funding. This comes as the two PCTs, which have been regularly praised by Patricia Hewitt, revealed a £4.5m overspend on treating patients over the last year. The cuts may affect plans for new services in some departments. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  West Midlands Express & Star 11 May 2006
  2       Affordability of 23 PFI hospitals put under scrutiny. The affordability of 23 PFI hospital schemes with a capital value of £6bn will come under scrutiny as plans to move care out of hospitals press ahead. A Department of Health study which could lead to a reduction in the size of the schemes will take "no longer than four to five months" to complete. It is the next stage in the review into PFI hospital projects announced earlier this year. The new study will look at the viability of big projects in Liverpool, the Home Counties, Leeds and the Midlands that have not yet gone to market. Lord Warner, the health minister, said it was not possible to say in advance whether the review would alter the overall value of £7 - £9bn of PFI projects in the pipeline, but he said the experience of the cancelled Paddington Basin project showed that business cases needed to be looked at "with a lot more rigour" in their earlier stages. He said "the party is not over" for PFI hospital building. But there was a new realism. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Financial Times 12 May 2006
    3     Hopes dashed. A leaked report has revealed the first private management take-over of an NHS hospital left the trust in dire financial straits, threatening the local health economy. The draft Audit Commission report on the deal between Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust and Secta Group Ltd describes a costly shambles. While the key clinical targets were met under the franchise, more than £1m was spent on "interventions". These were deemed an unacceptable use of public monies. The franchise agreement under which Secta ran Good Hope lasted from 2003 until it was terminated at the end of 2005. Inadequate provision within the contract meant the trust itself could not terminate the contract early or enforce penalty clauses. The deal ended prematurely after Anne Heast, the Secta employee appointed to the chief executive role, left for another position within Secta's parent company Tribal Group. Before she left, a paper was presented to the trust board assessing her performance - authored by Anne Heast. Former health secretary Frank Dobson, who has backed the Keep Our NHS Public campaign, said: "This report yet again exposes the myth that the private sector has management geniuses who can sort out the NHS -there isn't a single example of them doing it." Meanwhile, trusts across the country are using management consultants to help rid them of their deficits. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is reportedly paying PwC £100,000 a month, while Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has paid KPMG almost £700,000 to date. Cheshire West and Ellesmere Port and Neston PCTs are paying KPMG £10,000 per day, according to the Chester Chronicle. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hospital Doctor 18 May 2006
          Hewitt goes against the grain on reconfigurations. The health secretary has overruled almost half of the primary care trust reconfiguration proposals submitted by strategic health authorities. The government has supported 13 of the 23 'preferred options', rejecting 10 in favour of an alternative. Meanwhile, the government has announced 13 new ambulance trusts instead of the 11 expected. The Isle of Wight will retain its own ambulance service as part of its combined trust. Staffordshire Ambulance Service trust, which opposed its merger into a West Midlands service, will remain separate for up to two years because of the 'strength of public concern'. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 18 May 2006
          Primary care - Jitters as new providers fear marriage of inconvenience. HSJ says: "UnitedHealth Europe, which became well-known in the UK for its Evercare case-management model, was recently successful in convincing PCT managers in Derby that it was the best contractor to take over two GP practices. However, it fell foul of a group of well-organised local patients, parish councillors and local GPs and its selection by North Derbyshire PCT as preferred bidder is currently subject to a judicial review." UHE has also been accused of using the sheer size of its wallet to win APMS tenders. The company's detractors say it is treating such contracts as "loss leaders" to get its foot in the door. This, claim critics, calls into question their commitment to local services. UHE UK managing director Dr Richard Smith is unapologetic: "We've got to make a beginning, as you have to with any business. We do not expect to lose money on the contracts we have but you've got to create plans and respond to the costs." Many potential alternative providers are starting to lose patience at the mounting costs associated with bidding for APMS contracts. The national APMS procurement pilot run and funded by the Department of Health commercial directorate was launched last year. It appears to be backfiring. One large bidder, Clinovia, which provides community health equipment and services, has pulled out of the bidding process for one of the six pilot contracts on offer because of costs. Companies have spent over £100,000 so far on the tendering process. Richard Smith says the pilot has provided many lessons ahead of the much bigger programme to procure 30 APMS providers on behalf of PCTs with under-doctored areas in the summer: "There has got to be a realistic tendering process. The government worked out how to do ITC contracts, but now they have got to come up with an appropriate process for APMS." There is still a perceived lack of clarity about how the commissioner/ provider split will be policed in budget-holding practices - meaning that there have been calls from some quarters for an independent local market manager. Choice and contestability require a wide range of services. If large companies find it easier to enter the market than smaller ones, plurality will not be taking place. There are concerns that smaller providers would be unlikely to survive against the likes of UHE and Pfizer. Birmingham and the Black Country SHA long-term conditions programme director Paul Murbach has been working on an intensive project over the last year to test ways in which SHAs can manage and police burgeoning new markets. The SHA has two out-of-hospital contracts with the independent sector - one with UHE to provide 'risk stratification data', and one with Pfizer Health Solutions for self-care support for people with heart conditions. Murbach says he has had early experience of dealing with a "potential conflict management" issue when UHE decided to bid for the APMS contract in Derby. "That raised issues for us because our GPs were concerned UHE would have an advantage because they have access to commissioning-support data through their data contract with us." Murbach says they were able to reassure GPs that the SHA could sue UHE for breach of contract if evidence was found of any abuse of its privileged access to data. Meanwhile John Proctor, managing director of Pfizer Health Solutions UK, says NHS assumptions about the profit-motivated intentions of the independent sector have been aggravated by government meddling: "We need to challenge assumptions in the NHS about the independent sector, but it's difficult when people feel they've had it forced on them, such as in areas with independent treatment centres, where people feel the capacity has just been placed and they're then forced to commission from it." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 18 May 2006
    3     Bed loss for sick children. Money pressures have led to the loss of a third of NHS inpatient places for young children with mental health problems according to psychiatrists. Young children are being placed on wards with older adolescents and even adults as the last three years have seen the number of beds for young mental health patients fall from 129 to 86. One child psychiatrist in Birmingham has threatened to resign over a planned merger of wards for adolescent and younger patients. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Stoke Sentinel 27 May 2006
          Hospital trusts faced criticism from Britain's biggest trade union yesterday over a scheme to send tens of thousands of confidential patient records to be transcribed in India, the Philippines and South Africa under a new form of outsourcing that will save the NHS millions of pounds. Hospitals in London, the south-east, the Midlands, Hull and the south-west are replacing their medical secretaries with staff employed overseas by private British dictaphone companies who pay 6.5p a line to transcribe doctors' notes and email them back to hospitals. Unison accused hospital trusts of putting lives at risk because of typing errors by staff thousands of miles away who are not able to cross-check the information by accessing a patient's medical history or talking to a consultant. David Hencke, Westminster correspondent Thursday June 22, 2006 The Guardian
          ISTC chaos ignored. The Government is ignoring local concerns over the national ISTC programme as evidence emerges of more schemes being scrapped or put on hold. At least eight of 24 schemes in the £2.5bn wave two ISTC procurement have now been dropped and another put on hold after commissioners said they were not needed. But the DoH is not only insisting that Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge SHA spends £38m on a elective surgical ISTC, it has also rejected its proposals for case-mix of patients treated there. A recent report by Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire PCTs said the DoH had "modelled that we need this capacity" without factoring new NHS capacity into the model. It said "there will be high risk to local providers because the aim is for the [ISTC] to fill up first". The PCTs are also under pressure to buy more scans under the national diagnostics procurement. Most of the commissioned scans would substitute for work done in the NHS rather than supplement it, the report says. Essex SHA has been ordered to spend £45m on independent sector schemes, despite the collapse of two ISTC projects in 2005. A paper presented to Colchester PCT's board in January said the SHA had "identified a number of concerns" with this but the scheme was going ahead anyway. A surgical scheme for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA has been halted. The SHA said that a PFI project to upgrade three hospitals and an ISTC could lead to over-capacity. The SHA is negotiating to leave the national private diagnostics procurement. The DoH has allowed the scrapping of a surgical ISTC in York, which already has a surgical treatment centre, at Clifton Park. Birmingham City Hospital's ISTC had been dropped and it has been reported elsewhere that a further six schemes have been abandoned. These are: County Durham & Tees Valley, South Yorkshire (both cardiology and general surgery), South West Peninsula, and West Yorkshire (both plastics and multi-specialty centres). Dr Paul Miller, chairman of the BMA's seniors' committee, said: "There's clear evidence that wave one schemes are surplus to requirements - spare capacity is being hawked around like soft fruit at the end of market day. Rather than imposing wave two schemes where they are not wanted the DoH should stop now. It should not sign another contract before it has reviewed the whole policy." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hospital Doctor 8 June 2006
          PCTs rush to bring in private providers to run GP services. One in three PCTs will strike a deal with a private company to run GP services by the end of this year, according to a major Pulse survey. The survey of 104 trusts shows the rush towards privately run NHS GP surgeries is surging ahead at a far faster pace than expected. Ten PCTs said they had already signed alternative provider medical services contracts, 10 had contracts out to tender and 12 planned to tender before the end of 2006. Far from being restricted to the deprived under-doctored areas envisaged by ministers, APMS contracts are already spreading into leafy affluent shires. Just four of the 32 trusts forging ahead with APMS were among the 36 under-doctored areas ordered by ministers to bring in private providers. Trusts with contracts already sealed ranged from deprived areas like Barnsley, and Wednesbury and West Bromwich to leafy shires including Herefordshire, and East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey. GPs accused PCTs of rushing into APMS schemes in a bid to gain political "brownie points". The issue is set to be a flashpoint at next week's LMCs conference, with delegates voting on a demand to restrict APMS to areas where there is "an identified need" and existing GPs cannot deliver the service. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the GPC commissioning and service subcommittee, said PCTs must not be allowed to stray beyond the original remit for APMS - adding GP capacity in under-doctored areas. Dr Peter Jolliffe, Devon LMC chair, said there was no justification for South Hams and West Devon PCT's plan to use APMS to establish a practice in a new town: "We don't have any problems attracting doctors here." Professor Allyson Pollock, head of health policy at University College London, urged the Department of Health to stick to its commitment to pilot APMS in six PCTs before rolling it out nationally. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Pulse 9 June 2006
  2 3     150 hospital beds axed. Dudley's Russels Hall Hospital has lost almost 150 beds in the last five years. The losses are, according to the hospital's Unison secretary Steve Astill, the result of cost-cutting following a £160m PFI revamp of the hospital. The initiative was meant to move beds from nearby Wordsley and Corbett hospitals. However the number of beds at Russels Hall has gone from 900 to 758 since the PFI inspired "service reconfiguration project" in 2001, according to the hospital's chief executive. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  West Midlands Express & Star 13 June 2006
    3     New Cross debts shock. New Cross Hospital today outlined the severe cuts it will have to make in order to bring under control its rapidly rising £20million debt. 300 jobs will go with at least 160 being compulsory redundancies. In a letter sent to all Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust employees the trust confirmed that, along with job losses, the hospital will lose its Eye Infirmary, its staff dining room, operating theatres, and many beds as wards are closed or merged. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  West Midlands Express & Star 15 June 2006
  2       Consort reaches financial close on £553m Birmingham PFI. Consort Healthcare, has reached financial close for the PFI contract to design, construct, finance, maintain and manage the new £553m Birmingham Acute and Adult Psychiatric Hospitals for the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust. The project comprises a new acute hospital with capacity of 1,213 beds, a 108-bed specialist psychiatric hospital and teaching facility and a separate 32 bedded mental health local facility in Sparkbrook. The mental health facilities will open in 2008 and the first phase of the main acute hospital will open in 2010. The remainder of the new build acute facilities are scheduled to come on stream in 2011. Balfour Beatty's partners for the scheme are Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Facilities management will be provided by Haden Building Management, another Balfour Beatty subsidiary, under an arrangement that could yield £300m of long-term service revenue over the life of the concession. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of thepfi.net 21 June 2006
          The five specialist orthopaedic hospitals in England may have to abandon complex surgery on hips and bones because of a bizarre twist in the government's rules to turn the NHS into a competitive market, chief executives warned last night. In a private briefing paper for MPs, they said patients are set to become the victims of the health secretary Patricia Hewitt's new system of payment by results. They observed that much routine orthopaedic surgery is being diverted into private sector treatment centres, leaving the five NHS centres of excellence to concentrate on more highly skilled work. However, they said the national price list for every type of operation did not recognise the extra costs of more difficult work. The five hospitals are: the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital at Stanmore, Middlesex; the Nuffield Orthopaedic centre in Oxford; Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire; Royal Orthopaedic hospital in Birmingham; and Wrightington hospital in Wigan. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday July 6, 2006 The Guardian
        5 Trust plan downgrades A&E says watchdog. Plans to move emergency surgery from Birmingham's City Hospital A& E department to a site 5 miles away in the Black Country have been attacked as an attempt at downgrading the department "by the back door". The chairman of the city council's health scrutiny committee, Councillor Deirdre Alden, described the plan as being "absolutely ridiculous" and pointed out that an A& E not backed up by emergency surgery might as well be a minor injuries unit. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Post 27 June 2006
    3     Nurses go as hospital job cuts start to bite. Almost 200 nursing jobs are to be axed at a Midland hospital trust in a bid to plug a £20 million financial black hole. In a move described as "catastrophic" by union leaders, 7% of the total number of nurses' posts at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust will be cut. The job losses are among 566 positions going - which also includes doctors, administrators and managers - and trust bosses have warned further job reductions would be announced. Of the 566 jobs set to go, 430 are currently vacant and will be abolished. Staff in the remaining 136 positions were told their jobs were at risk, but they will have to wait a further month before they know if they are to be made redundant. The job losses at City Hospital and Sandwell General Hospital will include 13 doctors. Judith Whalley of the RCN said: "It is catastrophic. Any job losses in the NHS are bad because it is about the ability to provide a service. Staff are distraught. To be told you are at risk and keep them in suspense for a month and then expect them to carry on with their work is untenable." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Post 28 June 2006
  2       Birmingham trust faces action over alleged breach of PFI rules. University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust might be punished after allegations emerged that it had committed to spend more than £100m on construction before it was authorised by the Treasury. Des Browne, then chief secretary to the Treasury, wrote to the DoH alleging the trust had pre-empted the Treasury's approval process (which is required for all PFI schemes worth more than £100m) by committing itself to more than £100m of construction work on the new hospital. The department passed the matter to Monitor, the foundation trust regulator, which is considering the trust's explanation. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Public Finance 30 June 2006
    3     Balloon protest against job cuts. Eight hundred balloons are to be released representing jobs lost at a hospital trust in the West Midlands. Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the City, Sandwell and Rowley Regis hospitals, is cutting 800 jobs to save up to £20m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 5 July 2006
  2       Addleshaw Goddard advise on groundbreaking PFI deal. Addleshaw Goddard has advised on an innovative deal that will see Kingston Communications (HULL) PLC provide and maintain ICT services for University Hospital Birmingham. The deal is the first of its kind in the hospital market. The Yorkshire-based company will provide cabling and telecommunications infrastructure for the £500m project. Where traditionally ICT contracts have been awarded as stand-alone parts of such deals, the University Hospital Birmingham scheme will see the ICT contract ring-fenced but brought under the umbrella of the PFI. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of PFI.net 11 July 2006
          A frail widow has been awarded more than £10,000 compensation after her family produced a video which allegedly showed her being force-fed talcum powder by the care workers who were supposed to be looking after her. Lucy Neal, 89, was filmed by security cameras at her son's home in Handsworth, Birmingham, as the carers started to powder her chest. When she challenged them, they appeared to tip the talcum into her mouth. The three carers, who were employed by the Birmingham-based Welcome Care Agency, were found not guilty of assault at Birmingham magistrates court in 2004, but a district judge told Nordia Noteman, Maxine Davidson and Rosemarie Malvo that their care fell below expected standards. Mrs Neal then took a civil action against the agency, which ended in an out-of-court settlement. Her lawyers said yesterday the agency admitted negligence and agreed to pay a five-figure sum in compensation. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday July 12, 2006 The Guardian
        5 Campaigners protest over NHS cuts. Patients and hospital staff from Staffordshire, Hereford and Worcester have protested outside City Hospital in Birmingham over cuts, including 1,000 job losses in Staffordshire and 800 at City Hospital itself. Campaigner Andy Bentley said the march was a statement of intent. Neal Stote, from the Save the Alex Campaign which is fighting to keep services at Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, said that hundreds of people had turned out to have their voices heard. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 17 July 2006
          Hospital work being sent abroad. TWO Birmingham hospitals were today criticised for sending confidential patient notes thousands of miles across the world to be typed up. University Hospital Trust, which runs Selly Oak and Queen Elizabeth NHS hospitals, is the first Birmingham trust to outsource its administrative work abroad - to India, New Zealand and South Africa. Hospital chiefs revealed the move was cheaper and quicker than doing it in the UK. But angry health watchdogs said jobs should have been created in Birmingham instead and possible typing errors could put patients' lives at risk. Errors at other hospitals across the country have been revealed including the word malignant confused with non-malign (the first a cancerous growth, the latter a benign one), septic confused with aseptic (the first meaning infected, the second clean) and -ectomy with -octomy (the former requiring removal, the latter meaning an incision). A handful of hospitals nationwide are starting to use private dictaphone companies who pay as little as 44p an hour to get overseas workers to transcribe doctors' notes and email them back to hospitals. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Birmingham Mail 3 August 2006
    3     Healthcare spending is subject to a postcode lottery, with some areas paying out more on cancer, heart disease or mental health than others, a new report says. Primary care trusts are charged with buying healthcare to suit the priorities of their populations, but data from the King's Fund, the independent health foundation, finds that even taking into account varying needs, there are large and sometimes surprising differences. For example, the biggest spender on cancer is Daventry and South Northamptonshire PCT, which spent £132 a head, compared with £35 a head by the bottom-of-the-league Heart of Birmingham PCT. Sarah Boseley and Sarah Hall Wednesday August 9, 2006 The Guardian
          One in five ambulance trusts systematically misreported response times, making it look as if they reached serious life-threatening emergencies within government targets, the Department of Health disclosed yesterday. An audit of 31 ambulance services in England found six did not follow official guidance about how response times should be recorded. Some did not start the clock as soon as a 999 call was received. Others did not synchronise the clocks on the emergency switchboard with those used by paramedics. In some cases, ambulance trusts recategorised the urgency of the call after the job was done to make it fit the response time achieved rather than the priority given when the original call was made. This would have allowed staff to downgrade an emergency if the ambulance arrived late. The department said the six trusts were West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Cumbria, West Midlands, Staffordshire and the West Country ambulance service. John Carvel, social affairs editor Tuesday August 15, 2006 The Guardian
  2 3     Plans to use private sector money to build and maintain six NHS hospitals worth nearly £1.5bn were approved by health ministers yesterday, prompting anger among public sector unions that foreshadows a revolt at Labour's annual conference in Manchester next month. The six schemes, including facilities in health secretary Patricia Hewitt's constituency in Leicester, were scaled down to take account of the government's proposals for moving some services from hospitals into the community. This cut the cost by more than £400m. Unison, the biggest public sector union, said the decision to build the hospitals under the private finance initiative (PFI) would prove "a costly error", locking NHS trusts into inflexible repayment obligations that would burden their balance sheets for 30 years or more. The union is expected to be heavily critical of NHS privatisation at the Labour conference. The six developments took the hospital building programme since Labour came to power in 1997 to more than £10bn, almost all using using the PFI. But the clarity of the government's message about NHS expansion was muddied by the results of a BBC investigation of hospital cuts planned in other parts of the country. It said these may involve the closure or downgrading of at least 10 big hospitals, but the Department of Health said nothing was finalised and preparations for "reconfiguration of services" were at an early stage. The six schemes will be at:
· University Hospitals Leicester - a £711m development including a brand new women's hospital and a stand alone children's hospital at the Leicester Royal infirmary. The original proposals would have cost £906m.
· University Hospital North Staffordshire - £272m to build a community hospital and cancer centre.
· South Devon Healthcare - £163m to redevelop Torbay hospital, including a diagnostic centre offering MRI scans, more single rooms and day-case operating theatres.
· Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust - £140m for the complete redevelopment of the Manor hospital site.
· Salford Royal Hospitals - £112m for a new hospital with more single rooms, an enhanced A&E department and three new operating theatres.
· Tameside and Glossop Acute Services - £68m for three day-case operating theatres, new surgical wards and a 30- place day hospital for elderly mental health patients.
John Carvel, social affairs editor Saturday August 19, 2006 The Guardian
          Official report on trust take-over a 'whitewash'. The Audit Commission has been accused of a whitewash over the troubled private management take-over of a Midlands hospital. The involvement of new NHS chief executive David Nicholson has also come to light after the commission's muted criticism of the deal in last week's report on Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust. The report on the trust, which had a £15.1m deficit at end March 2006, contained just five paragraphs on its 2003 franchise agreement with management consultants Secta Group Ltd. The deal with the then zero star-rated trust was the first private outsourcing of NHS hospital management. The report said the arrangement, which ended prematurely in 2005, was 'partially successful' even though it had significantly increased trust costs. But the commission's earlier draft 35-page review of the deal, leaked to Hospital Doctor, was far more critical. It said that the appointment of a seconded Secta employee as trust chief executive while Secta consultants were also helping the trust meant conflict was "inherent" in the contract; the chief executive's dual role meant trust staff were reluctant to challenge Secta consultants' work; Secta employees signed value-for-money declarations on their own work; the trust could not prove the benefit of the £1m-plus it spent on Secta consultants' "interventions" to improve trust performance; given the cost and the trust's financial instability, the spend on interventions was "an unacceptable use of public monies"; and the financial position 'worsened considerably' during