Nurses fear wage cuts over debt crisis at University Hospital of North Staffordshire

“...and how long ago was it that staff were not paid in the couple of months running up to Christmas?”

“certain staff - says it all really. ie; a certain handful who are in the minority and may benefit. Rather than; "we're entitled to a free ipad who wants one ? we may aswell as they are on offer" because that is the case in a lot of areas.”

“MightyMacc - I don't know about the Christmas tree, but i too thought the same thing about ipads until i saw the bigger picture. By allowing certain staff to carry ipads, it enables them to take documents to meetings in electronic form, and not print off reams and reams of paper. Ensuring the trust is better equipped to meet its sustainability targets. It also allows the trust to cut down on the number of printers it has, saving costs on that hardware and the associated wallport costs in the new hospital.”

“Is this the same NHS who have allegidly paid £5000 to rent a xmas tree to put in the foyer of the new build and also waste money left right and centre on buying consultants and some secretarys, nurses ipads (not because they need them but because they can!!)”

“here we go again, Nurses and Patients will bear the brunt of cuts caused by inadequacy of managers and the massive underfunding of the NHS by the government ..
dedicated staff already do many extra hours here and there unpaid - yet no doubt they will be the ones who are left even more out of pocket .

Demoralised just doesn't even cover it !”

“The frustrating points of this report is that it blames ...

"An over reliance on Drs and nurses from agencies"... When the nursing management of change was first announced Unison confronted management about the plans and warned that reducing nursing numbers and cutting grades would lead to an exodus that would put patients at risk. We were readily dismissed and told the plans would work.But an exodus is exactly what happened and paying through the nose for agency staff was the result, but who is accountable?

"The Fit For The Future programme for failing to reduce activity" ...... Again we warned that a bigger hospital with fewer beds was madness, that projected moves of services from secondary to primary care wouldn't materialise and that would lead to a bed crisis. lo and behold the PCTs have failed to come up with the goods and UHNS has been forced to keep open 3 additional wards at huge extra cost. Nobody listened but who takes responsibility?

"Rising monthly payments for private finance initiatives behind the financial structure of the new superhospital" .... Vehemently opposed by the unions on the grounds that it would be financially crippling and lead to substandard services being provided by private firms tied into the contracts. We may have a new super hospital but paying for it is crippling the trust and who will ultimately suffer? The staff and the patients of North Staffordshire.

"Fines of millions of pounds for keeping patients waiting too long and the loss of incentive payments for missing performance targets"..... Politicians at the highest level need to open there eyes and realise that an NHS driven by a target culture and financial penalties is failing. We need to move away from those methods which only succeed in driving trusts further into the red, and return to a healthcare system that recognises the capacity of the service and concentrates on what is best for the patient ahead of anything else.”

“Pen pushers, not nurses.”