Glasgow to axe 1250 NHS jobs, including 670 nurses.

Daily Record


May 14 2010


By Magnus Gardham



MORE than 5000 NHS jobs across Scotland are at risk from SNP cuts.

Health chiefs in Glasgow yesterday confirmed plans to axe more than
1250 posts, including 670 nurses' and midwives' jobs.

And Labour said that if other health boards follow suit, NHS
Scotland could lose 5000 jobs by next year.

Health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: "The NHS in Scotland is
facing its biggest challenge in a generation as a result of SNP cuts.

"This announcement from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is absolutely
devastating. You cannot axe 670 nurses and midwives without undermining
patient care."

Norman Provan of the Royal College of Nursing added: "It is simply
not possible to cut this number of nursing and other posts without
affecting patient care and patient safety."

The Nats are taking the axe to health service jobs BEFORE the
expected assault on Scotland's public services by David Cameron and Nick
Clegg at Westminster.

It's feared nurses' and midwives' posts will account for more than
half the casualties nationwide.

And Scots Labour leader Iain Gray slammed Alex Salmond for vowing to
resist Cameron's cuts at the same time as planning his own.

He asked Salmond at Holyrood: "Is this what the First Minister calls
protecting our NHS?

"His health minister, Nicola Sturgeon, isn't letting these cuts
happen, she is demanding them.

"Yesterday, Alex Salmond wrote to David Cameron telling him he
doesn't want cuts here.

"Can I suggest he uses his mighty hand to write to his own health
secretary and tell her we don't want her cuts in our hospitals?"
Salmond said NHS Scotland's £11.3billion budget rose last year.

And his spokesman tried to distance the Nats from the Glasgow cuts
plan, saying the health board proposals had not been "signed off" by a
minister.

But Laboursay Sturgeon, who demanded "workforce projections" from
health chiefs last month, is the driving force behind the cuts plan.
Baillie said: "The SNP government is forcing health boards in every
part of Scotland to make savings in frontline services.
"Across the country, staffing levels are being reduced and training
budgets cut back."

Bosses at Scotland's second biggest health board, NHS Lothian, plan
to shed 700 jobs.

And NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde warned union leaders yesterday
that they want to get rid of 1252 posts, including 670 nurses and
midwives, 315 administrative and clerical staff, 180 facilities staff
and 30 managers. Eight consultants' posts are also at risk.
The Greater Glasgow health board employ 44,000 workers, a quarter of
all Scots NHS staff.

Bosses claim they can afford to axe so many jobs because they have
"redesigned" their services.

They insist they can carry out the cull through "natural wastage"
without breaking the NHS policy against compulsory redundancies.
A spokesman for Sturgeon said NHS staffing levels had gone up by
10,000 under the SNP. He said the cuts were needed to make the health
board more efficient.

NHS CUTS TARGET
670 Nurses and midwives
315 Administrative and clerical staff
180 Facilities staff
30 Managers

The article by the OP is Labour Propaganda, written by a Labour Activist (reference to Journalist for The Record not the OP). The truth is here:

http://www.theglaswegian.co.uk/glasgow-news/news/2010/05/14/health-board-under-fire-after-announcing-1252-jobs-to-go-across-greater-glasgow-102692-22257967/

"NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said a "redesign" of its services means that it will be able to provide the same quality of care with fewer staff.

In the next 18 months 1,252 full-time jobs - half of them are nursing and midwifery posts - will go."

Note: The SNP would have to take a Bill in front of the Parliament, and it would be logged at www.scottish.parliament.uk/ . After checking, you will see there is no Bill, therefore no cuts! Its a Labour Scare story!