NHS staffing cuts will hit productivity, says Unison

22 Jul 10
Unison has condemned reductions in the NHS workforce, claiming they will harm productivity and make it more difficult for the service to make genuine efficiency savings

By David Williams

22 July 2010

Unison has condemned reductions in the NHS workforce, claiming they will harm productivity and make it more difficult for the service to make genuine efficiency savings.

Figures releasedyesterday by the NHS Information Centre show that total headcount in the NHS fell by 3,351 during April 2010 – a reduction of 0.3%. The same proportional reduction was also seen in the number of full-time equivalent positions, and in clinical jobs.

The union’s comments follow a report from the King’s Fund think-tank that argues savings must be driven by increased productivity, and not staffing cuts.

The data suggests that managerial jobs are being cut faster than clinical staff. The NHS employed 662 fewer managers in April than in March, and 489 fewer senior managers – falls of 2.1% and 3.5% respectively.

Unison said the reduction in headcount was at odds with the need to cut costs, and warned waiting times would rise as jobs were lost. A spokeswoman said: ‘Staff are key to driving productivity. The NHS can’t afford to lose people – and back-office workers do an important job supporting frontline staff.’

She added that plansto abolish primary care trusts and strategic health authorities, announced in lastweek's white paper, would hit morale in those organisations, making productivity gains less likely.

She also criticised plans to make the health service more competitive by giving every hospital trust foundation status.

‘Pitting hospital trusts against each other will prevent staff from working together,’ she argued.

The King’s Fund report, Improving NHS productivity, was published online today and welcomed by Unison.

Its authors wrote: ‘As the NHS grapples with significantly smaller increases in funding from 2011, there is a danger that the necessary focus on improving productivity becomes, at worst, a misunderstanding that the NHS needs to dramatically cut budgets, reduce services for patients and sack staff.’

The report calculates that the NHS faces a ‘productivity gap’ of £14bn a year by 2014. It argues that the best way to make savings will be to bring the poorest performers up to the standard of the best, reduce the length of hospital stays, cut re-admission rates, and invest in leadership and management.

For more news and opinions on the NHS white paper, visit our Health page

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