 “No Cuts at Tommies!” say
Lambeth & Southwark residents
Last
Saturday, over 300 members of the public signed the Conservatives petition
calling for NHS London to scrap the teaching cuts planned at St Thomas’
Hospital. This was in response to Guy’s &
St Thomas’ Hospital Trust announcing that NHS London would be cutting their
teaching budget by £4.7m. Poor financial management elsewhere in the NHS has
meant that money that had already been agreed to finance the hospitals’
world-class teaching is thus to be taken away, reducing the hospitals’ status,
and threatening future patient care.
Local activist Sunil Tailor said, “if the plan is implemented, it could mean
hundreds of teaching posts are cut: a devastating blow at a time when training
our doctors and nurses has never been more important.”
Further Kick in the Teeth for
Tommies
The teaching cuts come on top of £12.5m in
savings forced on the hospital because of reduced NHS funding. £8m alone is to
be saved by not employing temporary staff to cover study leave. Furthermore,
managers have been told that temporary staff should only cover annual leave as
“a last resort”.
Said Chairman of Vauxhall Conservative Party
Stuart Barr, “Can someone please explain to patients why services and patient
care are being reduced at a time when we’re told the NHS takes more of our taxes
than ever? This is a great hospital, with dedicated and professional staff. We
must reinstate the funding to reverse the cuts, otherwise patients will suffer.”
Added local Conservative campaigner Nicholas
Maund, “is it any wonder that the NHS ended last year with a deficit of £1.3Bn?
Gordon Brown’s micromanagement approach has failed. He keeps boasting about how
much extra finance is going in to the NHS, but where are the results? In the
last three years alone, there has been a 7% reduction in hospital beds, and
20,000 fewer nurses nationwide.”
To add your name to the petition, please email
us at nhs@vauxhallconservatives.com |
