Unison votes to strike over pensions on 30 November. Many other unions are also set to ballot for strike action on 30 November. The government commented on the limited turnout suggesting that there was very limited support for striking. That’s the rules though government – same as electing scum politicians.

GPs are very concerned about the demands being made of them as members of commissioning consortia.

Cornish paramedics are being asked to take a pay cut.

NHS Croydon £25M in debt: services cut

The best course of action would be to abandon the Health and Social Care / Destroy the NHS Bill as suggested by the BMA

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat (Conservative) coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

Unison members vote to strike – Home News – UK – The Independent

The Government was tonight facing the biggest outbreak of industrial unrest since the 1979 Winter of Discontent after members of the largest public sector union voted in favour of strikes in the bitter row over pensions.

Unison said its members, ranging from school dinner ladies and refuse collectors to social workers and NHS staff, backed a campaign of industrial action by 245,358 votes to 70,253, in a 29% turnout.

The union is now set to strike on November 30, when teachers, civil servants and other public sector workers will also be staging a walkout in protest at the Government’s plans to increase pension contributions.

Over 220,000 teachers belonging to the NASUWT will start voting tomorrow on industrial action, while other unions will announce the result of their ballots in the coming weeks.
…

Eight in 10 GPs prefer not to be given reins / Britain / Home – Morning Star

Over 80 per cent of GPs feel they lack the skills to handle the commissioning roles foisted on them by the government’s high-handed NHS Bill, a new study has revealed.

Doctors themselves felt that plans to shut down primary care trusts (PCTs) and create clinical commissioning groups made up of GP practices would be unworkable without a huge investment in commercial skills training.

In a survey commissioned by law firm DMH Stallard LLP and consultancy group Kurt Salmon 85 per cent of 400 GPs interviewed felt they did not have the necessary skills to handle their commissioning roles and almost 90 per cent have real concerns about their legal responsibilities as members of a consortia.

“It is quite clear that GPs, who will be expected to manage and deliver these fundamental reforms, currently have real worries as to how they will make them work in practice,” says Andrew Lentin, a partner at Kurt Salmon.

“Almost a third of GPs think that something as basic as the government’s target date of April 2013 when the commissioning groups will inherit control from their PCT is unachievable.”

Pirate FM – News – Cornish Ambulance Staff Face Pay Cut

Cornish paramedics are being asked to take a pay cut.

South Western Ambulance says it needs to save four million pounds a year.

Holiday leave, overtime and sickness benefits could change too.

Paramedic Alan Lofthouse speaks for Unison.

He blames government cuts:

“It is incredibly demanding, both physically and mentally. But, ambulance staff do do it to the best of their abilities, saving lives, every day. The government needs to really consider how it’s funding the NHS to make sure that there aren’t these shortfalls which mean that employers have to come to staff and ask them to make up that shortfall in their pay”

“Coming to people who’ve had to put up with a two year pay freeze and are looking at a potential pension contribution increase coming up, it’s not really fair to come to them and ask them to pay more for what is essentially the bankers mistakes with government funding”

A consultation is underway. A Trust spokesperson said:

“Like all public sector organisations, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) service has savings to make. For the financial year 2011/12 efficiency saving are necessary to address amongst other things, inflationary pressures and escalating fuel costs.
…

NHS Croydon admit they could be faced with up to £25m deficit (From Your Local Guardian)

Millions of pounds are missing from an NHS trust budget, which could have far reaching consequences for patients, health experts warned.

An independent review has been commissioned into the 2010-11 accounts for NHS Croydon after a massive deficit of up to £25m was discovered by its financial team.

The discovery of the shortfall comes only four months after an independent audit of the accounts.

Geoff Martin of London Health Emergency, an independent watchdog, said: “In the run up to the busy winter months NHS Croydon patients will die unnecessarily as a result of this.

“I think the people responsible who created this crisis and have presided over it should be forced to resign.”

He said he believed the level of debt could be as high as £38m, and this had resulted in a freeze on spending for the rest of the financial year.

He said: “In some respects the level of deficit isn’t important. The main thing is in the run up to winter they are going to make huge cuts, which is going to drastically affect the level of care.
…

27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy