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NHS staff protest over job cuts. Health workers have been holding
marches and rallies to protest about cuts to NHS jobs and services, and
below-inflation pay increases. Demonstrations took place in a number of towns
and cities, including
London,
Manchester,
Preston,
Bristol,
Birmingham,
Sheffield
and Belfast. TUC general secretary
Brendan Barber - who spoke in Sheffield - said there was "real concern" about
NHS policies. Barber said there were several problems within the NHS.
"Obviously there are immediate pressures with cuts and jobs disappearing,
wards closing in too many trusts," he said. "People not able to find jobs when
they've completed their training - nurses, physiotherapists. So all of those
kinds of problems. But (there is) a feeling that the direction of policy is
just not right. The privatisation, the fragmentation of the NHS is really
threatening the whole integrity of the service. I think that's what people are
saying today." Dr Peter Carter, of the Royal College of Nursing, said nurses
were "angry and upset" over a number of issues. "Over the last year or so
nurses have seen jobs frozen, redundancies, services closed, wards closed,
student nurses not being able to get jobs on finishing their training, which
is a pretty depressing state of affairs. And then you've had the announcement
by the government that they were not going to fully implement the
recommendations of the pay review body that nurses should get 2.5%. And so
it's a combination of both of these things have led to an extremely frustrated
nursing workforce." Health Minister Rosie Winterton said unions and staff
signed up to the principles of the NHS Plan, which sets out reforms over 10
years.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of BBC
Online 3 March 2007
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United on the
streets in day of protests. With placards, banners and, in some cases,
daffodils, campaigners took to the streets on Saturday to protest over NHS
job cuts,
service closures,
marketisation - all were targets of the day of action which saw rallies
and marches take place across England and
Northern Ireland. The events were co-ordinated by NHS Together, an
alliance of organisations representing staff working in the health service,
along with the TUC. According to TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, who
addressed marchers in
Sheffield,
the government is in danger of squandering political credit earned through
higher investment and improved services. He said ministers should take action
to deal with financial problems, should
stop imposing
constant change and should move away from the current direction which was
leading to fragmentation of the NHS. Health secretary Patricia Hewitt came
under particular fire. She might have found Crawley in West
Sussex
- where she was strangled in effigy - particularly painful. Apart from
inflicting symbolic violence, campaigners used many methods to get their
message across. One intrepid group from
Cumbria braved the mist and rain to unfurl the NHS banner atop England's
third-highest peak, Skiddaw. Others employed street theatre, stilt walkers and
steel bands. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Health
Service Journal 8 March 2007
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Protestors take to
the streets over NHS cuts and closures. Thousands turned out last weekend
to protest at cuts, deficits, and increasing private sector involvement in the
NHS. The "Day of Action" was organised by NHS Together, a collaboration of
health service unions, NHS staff organisations, and the Trades Union Congress.
A series of events took place across the country. A "Rock for the NHS" concert
took the stage at
Woking,
while in Crawley protestors marched in nightgowns and bandages. Other rallies
were held in Brighton,
Maidstone,
Gloucester,
Preston, Belfast,
London, and
Sunderland, where Dr George Rae, chairman of the BMA's northern regional
council (left) took part. In Tunbridge Wells, a small crowd protested at the
closure of the Homoeopathic Hospital. In
Birmingham, Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said the protests were
"testament to the growing number of people worried about the future of our
NHS." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of British
Medical Journal 9 March 2007
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Stroke patients die needlessly in care lottery, study reveals. Hundreds
of deaths of stroke sufferers could be avoided if disparities in treatment were
remedied, new figures suggest today. More than a third do not receive treatment
on a stroke unit where their prospects are considerably better, a national audit
found. Research, funded by the Healthcare Commission, found large disparities in
the quality of care offered across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Patients
in Wales are more likely to die, or if they survive
suffer higher levels of disability, than elsewhere. Fewer than three in 10 (28%)
patients there are treated in a stroke unit, compared with an average across the
three countries of 62%. Meanwhile, two out of three (64%) patients in England
and seven out of 10 (73%) patients in Northern
Ireland can expect to visit a specialist unit. Press Association
Wednesday
May 9, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Strike by NHS
workers to hit Ulster hospitals. NHS support staff will strike in
Northern Ireland as the health unions
prepare to ballot for more widespread industrial action across the health
service. Hundreds of plumbers, electricians and maintenance staff will down
tools for a day in protest at hospitals' failure to pay a recruitment premium
agreed in 2004. Unite, the biggest union, formed by a merger last month
between the TGWU and Amicus, said longer strikes would follow if no
concessions were made. Nurses in Unison and the Royal College of Nursing are
to ballot on industrial action over pay.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Guardian
2 June 2007 -
Health Minister
outlines priorities to assembly committee. A health service which focuses
on patients needs and prevention will be key elements for the future, Health
Minister [Northern Ireland]
Michael McGimpsey said.
Care & Health 7 June 2007
-
Decision over nurses' pay 'creates disunited kingdom'. Pressure was
increasing today for English nurses to be given their pay award in full after
politicians in Northern Ireland opted to
give their nurses the entire 2.5%. Scottish and
Welsh ministers had earlier agreed to give their nurses
the full rise and campaigners said the decision left English nurses the poor
relations. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) wants the government to
scrap plans to stagger the pay award in England and instead to implement the
independent pay review body's recommendation to give nurses the full rise.
The Northern Ireland executive decided last night to do just that, and to
backdate the rise to April. Sara Gaines
Tuesday
July 10, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
-
Infection closes unit at hospital. The Intensive Care Unit at
Belfast City Hospital has been closed to
new admissions after two patients were found to have a bacterial infection.
They are now being treated in isolation. The hospital said the patients had a
multi-resistant acinetobacter infection. Emergency patients are being cared
for in the hospital's High Dependency Unit. The unit plans to re-open, under
guidance from the hospital's Infection Control team, within the next day.
BBC 25 July
2007
- Health Under-Funded: McGimpsey. Michael McGimpsey said there is a
'gap' between health spending in Northern Ireland and its equivalent in
England, which he said is set to widen if current budget proposals at Stormont
stand.
Care & Health 31 October 2007
PETITIONS
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