After another gap in postings – More outsourcing follows!

The NHS GP out-of-hours service in Worcestershire is being privatised. It is to be taken over by a private company called Take Care Now (TCN).

The GP service, currently run by Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, provides out of hours care for patients outside normal GP working hours.

Paul Bates, chief executive of Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, said: “The PCT has tendered for a new out-of-hours service because the public have quite rightly demanded that we improve the service that is offered. He has not said what problem the pubic had with the existing service!

A full statement will be issued by the PCT after the trust board meeting on Wednesday, May 14th. So another slice of the NHS goes private!

Technorati Tags: Out of Hours, GP’s, Privatisation

Running out of space – not for managers!

It seems that some UK overstretched hospital doctors are not being given enough office space or the tools to carry out their work effectively.

With some hospitals having to ask doctors to share one PC when updating confidential patent records without sufficient privacy; it appears that some hospital managers have not taken advantage of the recent NHS IT upgrades or are paying attention to Patient record confidentially.

Here’s more on the subject. [1] [2]

Technorati Tags: NHS Connecting for Health, Office Space

The UK really is a weird place!

So let me see, you’re in charge of a NHS trust that has the biggest outbreak of C-Diff which killed 90 patients. You have to quit your job after being severely criticised for your handling of the situation – not really an endorsement of one’s abilities!

So what to do next, I know, let’s sue the my employer for my balance of pay, after all it wasn’t really my fault.

Yes that is exactly what Rose Gibb is doing; she wants £75,000 damages for lost pay, compensation of £175,000, plus interest bla, bla, bla! It seems to me that she is taking the pi%& a little bit. See here for the full story.

Will she get all that she wants? In this crazy mixed up place we call the UK, where not enough money is paid to hardworking nurses, enough money will probably will be found to compensate an incompetent manager who was in charge when over 90 patient died in her care!

Technorati Tags: C-DIFF, Compensation, Managemnt

The State of the NHS – It’s a Boat Race?

It’s the Boat Race today.

In light of that, this article from the 2008 Nurses’ League Newsletter of the Worcester Royal Infirmary was an interesting find and cause to me to have a chuckle as I read it.

Is it a fair comparison? I leave it to you to decide, but I guarantee you’ll find some of it it very familiar! Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: NHS,Management,Consultants,Boat Race

By the way, thank you for my salary adjustment!

Sue Davidson is highly-skilled senior surgical nurse at at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary where she has worked for more than 30 years.

As a reward for her work and dedication the trust have adjusted here job banding, downwards! Yes that right, her new job banding has been changed from seven to six and will cost her around £3,500 in lost wages. How nice of them!!!

It’s a very strange way to encourage your staff!! More on this story here.

Technorati Tags: Staff Promotion, NHS Cuts

NHS Watch – Submission Form error fixed!

It appears that there has been an error on our Submission Form page of the NHS Watch web site for a while. This has been due to some setup changes at the Web Hosting Site.

We have now fixed this problem. So please feel free to leave us your comments about the NHS and about the NHS Watch web site which is currently undergoing a revamp.

You can access the Submission Form here.

Technorati Tags: Form, NHS

Hospital cuts appear again.

It seems that Trafford General Hospital is going to axe more than 200 jobs in its bid to avoid a £7m budget shortfall.

Managers at Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust say the cuts will result in improved clinical processes and provide a more value-for-money services!

It seems that up to 210 jobs will be cut along with the closure of two wards and two operating theatres in what the trust calls their ‘turnaround plan’.

The new Chief Executive Steve Sperry said: “The Trust has had cash problems over the last few years that if left would build up into major financial problems this year. “We will continue to deliver the highest standards of healthcare but in the most efficient ways possible in order to meet our obligations to taxpayers.”

Lets see what happens before the next cuts happen.

Technorati Tags: Job Cuts

Another prescription for GP gloom!

No much to say about this except to link direct to the main story from Dr Martyn Lobley in the commentary section of today’s Times Online.

Technorati Tags: Department of Work and Pensions

Cash strapped NHS Trust has to borrow to pay salaries!

Trafford General, the hospital associated with the start of the NHS has had to borrow £3m from the Department of Health to pay this month’s staff salaries!

To cover an ongoing financial crisis Trafford General managers have also been forced to close two of its seven operating theatres.

It is also anticipated that some 210 jobs are to be axed, managers claim that they will be through a mixture of voluntary redundancies and job vacancies not being filled. However, it will be unlikely that compulsory redundancies will not occur.

Looks like the government is having to dig deeper into their pockets to support another NHS trust. Full story here.

Technorati Tags: Budget Cuts, NHS, Job Losses

Smile more, speaking quietly at night!

Just two of a number of items to be covered at a new training course being set up at the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust in Stockport, Greater Manchester for their nursing.

It appears that some nurses seem to want to talk more about their love lives than spend time on the ward checking that their patients are okay.

It seems that the need for the course has come from feedback from patients and visiting relatives. I understood that Nursing was still a common sense profession, but after reading some of these comments, it seems that nurses now have to be trained when to smile and when talk about their personal lives!

I’m sure that not all nurses will agree?

Technorati Tags: RCN, NHS, Nursing