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
          The disgraced gynaecologist Rodney Ledward was attacked by doctors and managers yesterday for a "breathtakingly disgraceful" defence of his years of botched surgery in which he claimed the NHS had lost in him a "first-class consultant". His remarks, universally condemned as arrogant beyond belief, raise the temperature just days before Richard Neale, a second gynaecologist, [Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, North Yorkshire] is due to face the General Medical Council, charged with a catalogue of botched operations, sub-standard treatment and falsification of documents. Guardian 9 June 2000
          Private arrangement.  NHS trust forced to open pay beds to keep consultants.  Chris Gallagher Guardian Wednesday July 24, 2002 [Scarborough]
          Forty new ambulances worth £4m have been mothballed after a health authority belatedly found that they could not cope with speed bumps. Martin Wainwright Thursday July 31, 2003 The Guardian [Tees, North & East Yorkshire]
          Where the treatment centres will be. The health secretary, John Reid, today announced details of the government's controversial programme of privately run fast-track diagnostic and treatment centres, and a number of new mobile ophthalmology units. This guide explains where they will be. Friday September 12, 2003 [South-west peninsula (Mercury Health Ltd), Lincolnshire (Mercury Health Ltd), Horton hospital, north Oxford (Mercury Health Ltd), North-east Yorks (Mercury Health Ltd), Southampton (Mercury Health Ltd), Northumberland (Mercury Health Ltd), East Berkshire (Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead and Windsor/Ascot) (Mercury Health Ltd), Didcot, Oxfordshire (Mercury Health Ltd), Ashford, Surrey (Mercury Health Ltd), Maidstone (Care UK Afrox), Barlborough Links, Nottinghamshire (Care UK Afrox), Derriford, Plymouth (Care UK Afrox), Chase Farm, Barnet, London (Anglo Canadian), King George hospital, Redbridge (Anglo Canadian), Royal National throat nose and ear hospital, Kings Cross, London (Anglo Canadian), Bradford (Nations Healthcare), Burton (Nations Healthcare), Daventry (Birkdale Clinic), Trafford, Greater Manchester (Netcare UK), Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore (New York Presbyterian), Shepton Mallet, Somerset (New York Presbyterian).
Two mobile units will offer ophthalmology services in the following areas: Cheshire and Merseyside (Netcare UK), Cumbria and Lancashire (Netcare UK), Horton, Oxfordshire (Netcare UK), Wycombe, Bucks (Netcare UK), North Tyneside (Netcare UK), South-west Oxfordshire (Netcare UK), North-west peninsula (Netcare UK), Dorset/Somerset (Netcare UK), Kent/Medway (Netcare UK), Hants and Isle of Wight (Netcare UK), Surrey and Sussex (Netcare UK), Thames Valley (Netcare UK)]
          An NHS hospital has begun a shakeup of its outpatient systems after a heart patient's consultant appointment was cancelled 10 times, it emerged today. Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals trust launched a major inquiry into cardiology outpatient appointments after Patricia Silvester received a string of standard letters, each moving the date of her appointment. Tash Shifrin Wednesday September 22, 2004
        5 Doctors in Hornsea have spoken out against plans to close the town's minor injuries unit. Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT proposed axing services at Hornsea's Cottage Hospital. A local GP said: "The doctors in this town are unanimous in our thoughts. We are behind the people of the town in campaigning for the unit to stay open."  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 15 December 2005
    3     Effect of NHS financial crisis felt around Yorkshire. At Barnsley's hospital, £700,000 has been saved with the loss of 35 posts; Rotherham hospital is planning to slash pay costs of non-clinical staff by 10%; hospitals in Sheffield are trying to save £20m due to losses resulting from payment by results and the extra costs of meeting targets; beleaguered Selby and York PCT has predicted debts of £23.7m, and Sheffield's PCTs have combined deficits of £17; Airedale NHS Trust has had to sell former staff residences and increase car parking charges to try to stay in balance. Hundreds of operations are being delayed in north Lincolnshire. Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale PCT, facing a £6.5m overspend, is interrogating hospitals as to why operations are being performed within a month. The trust's director of finance said: "There are more people going into hospital than we can afford. Hospitals in York and Scarborough are treating patients in three months - the national target is six months - and we are looking to slow some of those procedures." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire Post 4 January 2006
    3     Hospitals set to wield axe on hundreds as debt rises. Up to 300 physicians, nurses and surgeons could be cut by the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust as part of an attempt to make £13.5m savings demanded by the SHA. The trust hopes to lose the jobs through non-replacement of leaving staff. The posts will be lost at the trust's three main hospitals - Hull Royal Infirmary, Castle Hill and Princess Royal. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 16 January 2006
        5 Hospital morale "at all time low" in Bridlington. Amicus have said that staff morale is suffering as Bridlington hospital is wound down and patients are transferred to Scarborough, prompting fears that Bridlington will be closed. Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust is predicting a £2.7m deficit. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 18 January 2006
    3     'People's health must come first'. Campaigners and residents are urging Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT not to cut services after it drafted in management consultants KPMG to tackle its £11m deficit. The trust is due to announce whether the minor injuries unit in Hornsea will close and whether the unit at Withernsea will drop its night-time opening hours at the end of January. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 25 January 2006
    3     Nine in ten say NHS will not break even next year. Only 13% of NHS chief executives surveyed by HSJ expect the NHS to break even by April 2007, as Patricia Hewitt has demanded. 32% forecast their own trust would still be in debt. King's Fund chief economist John Appleby said: "'There has got to be much better costing of current policies. What impact is patient choice going to have on demand ? We have no idea. I do not think they have thought it through. The major policy this government has pursued since Labour came to power has been to improve access to hospitals by cutting waiting times, but we have never seen a figure on how much this has cost the NHS." The full 18 trusts named by Hewitt as being the worst performing are: Acute - Hammersmith Hospitals; Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals; Mid Yorkshire Hospitals; The Royal West Sussex; Surrey and Sussex Healthcare; Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals; University Hospital of North Staffordshire; Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals; George Eliot Hospital (Nuneaton). Primary Care Trusts - Hillingdon (London); Selby and York; Cheshire West; West Wiltshire; Kennet and North Wiltshire; Sheffield PCTs (four organisations). Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 26 January 2006
1         NHS patients pay cash for superior care. Health Service patients are paying for enhanced levels of care and operations that are no longer available free at hospitals across England, in initiatives that are being criticised as the creation of a two-tier health service and privatisation by stealth. Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust is to open the Foundation Skin clinic, described by managers as a "halfway house" between state and private care. The clinic will carry out procedures like the removal of moles and warts, screening of moles and Botox injections to reduce heavy sweating - all for a fee. Trust managers admit that the initiative is a response to funding shortages. Some of the services were offered free by the trust until 2003. Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea NHS hospital in London recently began to offer one-to-one midwife treatment for £4,000. Professor Allyson Pollock, director of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at Edinburgh University, says the most vulnerable patients are suffering as a result of fees being widely introduced. "It is shocking that NHS patients can pay for a higher level of care. They are getting priority treatment and are able to pick and choose." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Sunday Times 29 January 2006
    3     NHS slides £90m into red in Yorkshire. The overall financial position in the region is expected to worsen from a current combined deficit of £77m to £90m by April. Two-thirds of the debt is carried by four trusts - Selby and York PCT, Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Yorkshire Wolds & Coast PCT and Scarborough, Whitby & Ryedale PCT. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 30 January 2006
        5 Hospital's award-winning birth centre under threat. An Award-winning natural birth centre could become the latest casualty of NHS cutbacks. Jubilee Birth Centre at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, which delivers 350 babies a year, is to undergo a review into its future. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust will consult before it makes any decision. The trust is attempting to reduce a £5m deficit.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 7 February 2006
        5 United in fight for our right to choose. Mothers, councillors and MPs have united to fight for the future of the Jubilee Birth Centre.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 7 February 2006
        5 Help us to keep up the pressure. Hornsea Cottage Hospital League Of Friends is calling for supporters to keep up the campaign before the next decision about Hornsea Hospital's minor injuries unit is made at the end of March. The group has asked supporters to contact them so they can form a database. Anyone wishing to get in touch with the group can call Mr Cawkill on (01964) 537171. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 9 February 2006
    3     Trust deficits hits £10m. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is set to see its deficit double over the next two months to more than £10 million. The predicted deficit has increased from £5.4m to £10.7m. It has already announced a reduction of 300 jobs, to be achieved through natural turnover over the next couple of years. The trust blames the funding mechanism for part of the debt. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 9 February 2006
  2       New LIFT health centre to open in Hull. The £1.9m Newington Health Care Centre will house two GP practices and opens at the end of the month. Repayments will be made to the private consortium that built it over 25 years. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 9 February 2006
    3     Health trusts plunge £47m into red. NHS trusts in North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire are predicting they will be £47.2m in debt by the end of next month - despite predicting a deficit of £10m three months ago. John Grimes, director of finance at the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA said a "serious deterioration" in the financial position had become clear in recent weeks. Staff cuts, axeing of beds and delays in operations have already been implemented, and £15m has been borrowed from the NHS Bank to enable trusts to continue paying their bills. Among the trusts, Selby and York PCT faces debts of £24m and Scarborough and Hull's debts have doubled to nearly £11m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire Post 13 February 2006
    3     Taxpayers 'foot bill as health trusts cut services'. Social services and care home experts have accused Selby and York PCT, which has a predicted £24m deficit, of making cuts to services which must then be met by York City Council and North Yorkshire County Council. Sue Galloway, executive member for health and social services at York Council, said district nursing was being reduced by the PCT: "I think it is about time now that local councils actually said, 'Sorry we will do whatever we can, but we cannot go on at this rate picking up the pieces.'" Ryedale Tory MP John Greenway said: "Frail, elderly people are not being supported by Selby and York PCT. We now have a situation where there has to be an acute need before the elderly will get nursing care. The Government shrugs its shoulders and says, "not my problem" - but it is their problem." Keren Wilson, development director at the Independent Care Home Group, said: "There is a belief in nursing homes that the PCT is not assessing patients at the right level. When they release a patient from hospital they assess them as of low, medium or high need - high need costs the PCT the most to care for. They are assessing people who come out of hospital in the medium band and within four weeks these people have died, so they should have been put in the higher band. I believe budgetary pressures are forcing the trust to take decisions that are not in the best interests of the patient. That is a huge problem." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire Post 15 February 2006
          Woman left waiting for air supply. Jean Waters of Hornsea has been left gasping for breath after being kept waiting for a vital delivery of oxygen supplies from Air Products, the company that has taken over the service after the Department of Health privatised it at the start of this month. She had to call Air Products three times before eventually being told it could be up to three weeks before she had a delivery. She has suffered from a chronic lung infection for 13 years, and fears that without oxygen she will be hospitalised. The company blamed the delay on a higher volume of calls than it had expected.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 16 February 2006
        5 'We still need to win the war'. Groups from across the East Riding of Yorkshire will gather to discuss the futures of Hornsea and Withernsea hospitals. Public meetings will take place in the two towns aimed at saving services. Campaigners say that although they saved Hornsea Cottage Hospital's minor injuries unit from closure earlier this month there is no room for complacency. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 22 February 2006
    3     Hospital meal shock. Harrogate District Hospital is serving patients weekend evening meals of sandwiches on paper plates because it says it cannot afford to recruit agency staff to make hot dinners. The Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said it was having difficulties recruiting permanent staff for the kitchens and claimed that employing temporary staff through an agency would be too expensive.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Sun 01 March 2006
    3     Trust may seek help to manage £12.6m deficit. East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is considering asking for financial advice from the Government to cope with its large budget deficit. The trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary, Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham and Princess Royal Hospital in east Hull, started the last financial year with an overspend of £4.5m. Since then, the overspend has swelled, growing by £2m since December alone. The trust has already reduced the number of staff by 300 in the next two years, stopped overtime, instituted a ban on agency staff and a recruitment freeze. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 7 March 2006
    3     PCTs block referrals to hit budget targets. The BMA has called on the Government to issue clear guidance to PCTs, urging them not to delay referrals on financial grounds, after it emerged that PCTs are using referral management centres to ration care. All routine referrals at Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT had been delayed to push treatment into the next financial year. In South East and South West Oxfordshire PCTs, a clinical advice and liaison service set up to vet all routine referrals sends referrals back to GPs suggesting alternative routes of referral - other consultants, triage or other clinical areas. GPC chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum - who himself had a referral returned to him after a four week delay with a note saying "refer to consultant" - said that referral management schemes made a nonsense of Choose and Book, as it was unclear who made referral decisions. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Doctor Update 9 March 2006
    3     Cash blow for trust. Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT, heading for an £11m deficit this year, will receive £1.4m less than expected next year because of the DoH dropping the purchaser parity adjustment scheme. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 16 March 2006
        5 Community Hospitals at risk in North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire  SHA according to Public Finance 17 March 2006:
Hornsea Cottage Hospital
Withernsea Community Hospital
Alfred Bean Hospital
Bridlington Hospital
Whitby Hospital
    3     Health staff find ward padlocked. Ward 10 at Hull Royal Infirmary was unexpectedly closed at the weekend, and now managers at the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust cannot guarantee its future. But the ward was reopened on Monday due to a shortage of beds elsewhere in the hospital. The ward, which has 26 beds, treats mainly elderly people with a range of medical conditions. The trust admitted current financial troubles meant there were not enough nurses to staff it safely. It is £12.6m in the red, and has introduced several cost-cutting measures, including shedding 300 jobs over the next two years. One nurse said: "I went to work and found chains on the door. We were not informed the ward would be closed. We were told to report to a different ward to see where we would be working. It's not good enough. Patients and their families must have been distressed. I think it's disgusting the way the trust has treated staff and patients." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 3 April 2006
        5 Campaign delivers victory. The Jubilee Birth Centre in Hull is to be kept open after a concerted campaign against the threat of closure. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 3 April 2006
          Angry dentists quit the NHS in droves. One in nine dental practices in Yorkshire have quit the NHS amid anger over their new contracts. Ninety practices out of 800 in the region have left for the private sector. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Yorkshire Post 6 April 2006 [North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority, South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority, West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority]
    3     Hospital trust to shed 200 jobs. York Hospital is to cut 200 jobs. It has not ruled out compulsory redundancies. Managers blamed the decision largely on financial problems at the Selby and York PCT, which buys services from the hospital. The hospital itself balanced its books last year. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 7 April 2006
    3     Secret plan to ration patient care. Patients are being denied appointments with consultants in a systematic attempt to ration care and save the NHS money. The leaked document - 'Pan London Demand Management Arrangements 06-07' produced by the London Transition Team, led by John Bacon, a senior NHS manager - shows that while ministers promise patients choice, a series of barriers are being erected limiting GPs' rights to refer people to consultants. Health trusts across London have drawn up plans to establish panels that will monitor how many patients are referred to hospital by GPs. Trusts have been told that they must cut GP referral rates to those of the lowest 10%, saving £25m a year. Consultant-to-consultant referrals are also being limited, in many cases denying patients a second opinion. A& E departments are being told to "redirect" 40-70% of patients back to GPs or walk-in centres. Hospitals that treat people who ought to have been sent to their GPs will not be paid. The bureaucracy needed to screen all the referrals will itself cost £1.6m. The Times says: "The language of the document makes no pretence that this will improve care, and emphasises cost savings throughout. 'It is imperative that London balances its books overall,' the first paragraph says." The BMA says similar schemes are running in Kent, Oxfordshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Surrey, Sussex, Cornwall, Shropshire, Suffolk, Lancashire and Yorkshire, as well as London. Jonathan Fielden, deputy chairman of the BMA consultants committee, said: "It's clear that clinicians don't know how these referral management systems aid improvements in clinical care. To them they are purely cost-saving. The way they work is not transparent or clear. If clinicians don't know, patients cannot know either. That certainly flies in the face of the Government's Patient Choice agenda." Myfanwy Davies and Glyn Elwyn, of the Centre for Health Services Research at Cardiff, said the centres had "appeared overnight in an evidence-free zone". Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Times 7 April 2006
        5 Concern as county's third minor injuries unit closes overnight. The 24-hour minor injury unit at the Alfred Bean Hospital in Driffield has had its hours axed due to staff shortages. It is no longer open after 6pm. Earlier this year, Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT has announced decided to reduce opening hours at minor injury units at Withernsea and Hornsea, meaning many patients in the East Riding area will have to travel long distances for care at night. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 13 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     Foundation hospital planning cuts. Harrogate Hospital has revealed plans for major cost cuts this year. The hospital trust, which has forecast a deficit of between £4.2m and £9.2m, said it wanted to cut beds and surgery but had no immediate plans to axe jobs. It said it had been hit by local PCT plans to cut the amount of work given to the hospital by £7m. Lib Dem MP for Harrogate & Knaresborough Phil Willis challenged Tony Blair over the cuts at prime minister's questions, asking: "Why should my constituents suffer for failures elsewhere in the system and above all for government meddling ?" Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 20 April 2006
    3     NHS levy on trusts 'will lead to cuts in services'. Health chiefs have warned of wider cuts in services in Yorkshire under plans to impose a levy on NHS trusts as part of desperate efforts to shore-up health service finances. Gordon Firth, chairman of Barnsley Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said his organisation would lose £6m and inevitably frontline services would be affected. Health chiefs in North Lincolnshire predict the levy will cost £4.5m, further adding to a difficult financial position. A 12-point action plan is being drawn up including deferring non-urgent surgery, reducing hospital referrals and outpatient follow-up appointments and cutting spending on mental health and the voluntary care sector. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Yorkshire Post 20 April 2006 [also West Yorkshire]
    3     Trust blames deficit on PCT. Harrogate and District foundation trust is facing a £9.2m deficit this year and blames Craven, Harrogate and Rural District PCT's plans to cut the amount of work given to the hospital by £7m for 2006-07. The cost-improvement programme will "necessarily impact on the level of capacity available within the trust". Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Health Service Journal 27 April 2006
    3     Experts Help Hospital Trust Claw Back £12 Million. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust has called in PricewaterhouseCoopers to save money in the coming year. The trust is £12.35m in the red. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Hull Daily Mail 11 May 2006
    3     Health staff join protests over curbs on spending. The cuts at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust come after the most financially successful 12 months in its six-year history - it broke even without any outside help for the first time. Other NHS hospitals in Yorkshire that have already announced millions of pounds of cuts include Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Hull, York, Harrogate and Airedale. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Yorkshire Post 12 May 2006
    3     County's NHS Cuts could reach £80m. Health services across North Yorkshire will be dramatically affected amid a deepening financial crisis that could see up to £80m in cuts made. The true extent of the crisis will be disclosed at a public meeting next week when senior officials from the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA will outline initial details of a recovery plan to impose the multi-million pound savings. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Yorkshire Post 12 May 2006
    3     NHS Direct, the nurse-led health helpline, will today axe more than 1,000 staff in a comprehensive restructuring of branches and business objectives, the Guardian has learned. Proposals will be presented for consultation with staff unions to close 12 call centres across England and shed more than a quarter of the workforce to avert a forecast £15m deficit for 2006-07. The move follows an announcement yesterday by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust that it plans to shed 1,200 jobs to avoid a deficit of £60m - caused partly by a new payment-by-results system introduced last month. The Nottingham cuts - like most of the 13,000 hospital job losses over the past few months - will be achieved largely through staff turnover, with few compulsory redundancies. But NHS Direct said up to 114 of its nurses may be sacked, along with managers and administrators. NHS Direct was founded in 1997 to provide a 24-hour telephone helpline advising patients on how to deal with symptoms and where to go in an emergency. It handles about 6.5m calls a year and its website attracts 1m visits a month. This side of its business is likely to grow, but a report to staff today admits the organisation has failed to meet targets for expanding into new areas. It expected to get the lion's share of contracts for call centres for patients wanting to see a GP outside working hours - but got only 20% of the business. It also runs an appointments line to support the choose and book system that enables patients to fix an outpatient appointment at a convenient time at the hospital of their choice. Delays in installing necessary IT equipment in hospitals and GP surgeries slowed this income stream. It says it can no longer afford to run many of the smaller call centres. The proposals call for the closure of centres in Doncaster, Scunthorpe, York, Chester, Bolton, Preston, Chorley, Southport, Cambridge, Croydon, Brighton and Kensington, London. They will shut over the next 18 months and staff will be made redundant unless they can be redeployed. Eighteen call centres will be expanded.John Carvel, social affairs editor Tuesday May 16, 2006 The Guardian
    3     'Cosmetic' ops axed in £51m cuts. Four primary care trusts serving North Yorkshire will stop offering treatment for "cosmetic" procedures, such as varicose veins, in a bid to save £51m. They said a small number of procedures will no longer be offered unless there was a strong case for an exception. The trusts will also try to reduce referral rates to hospital and to cut the number of routine outpatient follow-up sessions. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 17 May 2006
    3 4   Cuts may mean some operations rationed. North Yorkshire primary care trusts are considering rationing certain surgical procedures to help balance the books by the end of the financial year. Operations to carry out varicose vein removal, vasectomies, and hip replacements may be curtailed for all but exceptional cases. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Yorkshire Post 22 May 2006
          DoH throws down gauntlet on APMS. The pace of private sector involvement in primary care has accelerated, with ministers trumpeting the first in a series of Government-backed private provider deals, allowing a private company to run a traditional GP practice in east London. Health Minister Lord Warner said private provider Care UK would run a new 7,000-patient practice and walk-in centre in Barking and Dagenham. The DoH said similar contracts that would "challenge the existing monopoly of independent GPs" were close to agreement in Hackney, Liverpool, Lancashire, Plymouth and Yorkshire. PCTs have also begun planning to put directly managed practices out to tender to avoid the cost of running them. Sunderland PCT has opted to put out to tender a practice run by two GPs for the past two years. Dr Ashley Liston and Dr Tracey Lucas, who transformed the struggling practice, had hoped to take it over. He said: "We are disappointed but not surprised by the outcome. We're keen to continue the work we've started here, so we will be putting in a bid. We recognise the challenges of competing with large multinational companies, but we will give it our best shot." GPC Medical Practitioners Union representative Dr Ron Singer said: "PCTs will get Brownie points from the Government by involving the private sector. They are beginning to realise that they don't want salaried practices." Dr Chaand Nagpaul, a member of the GPC sessional GPs subcommittee, called on the Government to make it a legal requirement that salaried GPs keep their NHS contracts when APMS providers take over a practice: "We need to ensure the private sector is not seen as a cheap option with doctors on lower rates. The worry is we will see a downward trend in employer and employee terms." Dr Richard Fieldhouse, chief executive of the National Association of Sessional GPs, told salaried doctors not to sign alternative contracts if their practice is taken over: "It's like a civil servant moving to become part of McDonald's." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Doctor Update 30 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
    3     More NHS cuts due to £20m deficit. A series of cutbacks have been unveiled to tackle a £20.7m deficit for two primary care trusts in the East Riding. The Yorkshire Wolds and Coast and the East Yorkshire trusts have said they face a joint deficit of £20.7m by April 2007 unless they act to cut costs. Plans include closing two centres for on-call GPs and reducing follow-up appointments for outpatients. Family planning, mental health and palliative care budgets will all be affected by the plans and some pharmacies may stop opening out of hours as their subsidies are axed. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  BBC Online 7 June 2006
          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
          NHS workers in Yorkshire rubbish their own hospitals. An official survey carried out by the Healthcare Commission, asking NHS staff their opinion of the services they work in, has produced damning results. When asked whether they would be happy as a patient with the standard of care provided; ten Yorkshire trusts had more staff unhappy about the treatment they would receive. Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stewart said the survey showed NHS staff "who aspire to high standards but feel they're not being allowed to deliver." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Yorkshire Post 13 June 2006
    3     Hewitt warns overspending NHS. Overspending NHS trusts that are "concentrated in the healthiest and wealthiest areas" will have to take responsibility and not rely on being bailed out by the rest of the NHS according to Patricia Hewitt. Addressing an Amicus conference in Scarborough, the health secretary said that although trusts in the black will be asked to help their neighbours this year, they will get the money back with interest starting with the poorest areas. Hewitt also admitted that times would be particularly hard for acute trusts as attempts are made to drastically reduce the number of visits made to hospital by those taken seriously ill. Hewitt's comments come as more Yorkshire health workers are set to lose their jobs and Scarborough hospital faces the threat of a new private non-urgent surgery clinic in York. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  Yorkshire Post 13 June 2006
    3     Hospital referral cuts "to hit patients". York and North Yorkshire PCT's request to GPs to cut referral rates will force GPs "to make compromises that could effect the health of patients" according their local representatives. The comments come from Dr Dougie Lumb, Yorkshire GP and deputy head of the Local Medical Council. He said: "This is something we are unwilling to do. We have rejected the PCT's proposals which we believe will significantly disadvantage patients in North Yorkshire." The new trust is attempting to make savings of £54m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire Post 4 July 2006
    3     Fears for patient care as trust cuts £23m. Selby and York PCT is to carry out severe cuts to services in order to slash 7.5% from its budget. The cuts will include a 20% cut in hospital referrals, fewer follow up appointments and a reduced drug bill. Local politicians have expressed concerns about the impact of the cuts. Liberal Democrat Councillor Sue Galloway said: "The decisions look to have been taken by business consultants, rather than healthcare professionals, so I am concerned that the impact on patients has not been looked at holistically." As well as a reduction in hospital referrals, the number of operations will be cut and care for the elderly will be slashed by £5m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire Post 14 July 2006
           
           
           

 See also Sharon Wilson for an example of a seriously ill patient who is being black-listed harassed, and denied treatment.

There is a shortage of articles from the regional and local press about the NHS in parts of this Strategic Health Authority's area, particularly Northern Lincolnshire. If you aware of any missing stories, please contact me and Keep our NHS Public.  I would  also be interested in any other cases in Selby and York PCT comparable with  Sharon Wilson or any examples of abuse of position by GPs working for that PCT.

 

Sheila Porter-Williams
Campaign for Health Service Democracy
Green Haven, Halfway Lane
Dunchurch
Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 6RD
sheilaCHSD@porter-williams.freeserve.co.uk