11 April 2011
More than half of the jobs being cut in the health service are frontline clinical roles, the Royal College of Nursing warned today.
The union said research into 21 NHS trusts in England revealed that 54% of almost 10,000 posts due to be cut were on the front line. Nursing jobs accounted for 46% of the cuts.
Overall, almost 40,000 NHS posts face the axe over the next three years, the college announced on the first day of its annual congress in Liverpool.
Peter Carter, RCN chief executive and general secretary, said that many trusts were not being transparent as they were not admitting to the proportion of clinical jobs being lost. ‘From our research, we now know the truth – the majority of job losses are frontline clinical jobs, the jobs that matter to patients.
‘Cutting thousands of frontline doctors and nurses could have a catastrophic impact on patient safety and care. Our figures expose the myth that frontline staff and services are protected.’
The government has pledged a real-terms increase to the NHS budget during the current Parliament, but the health service must also find £20bn of efficiency savings. Rising drug costs and an ageing population are also adding pressure to the NHS finances.
Today’s RCN research also revealed that services aimed at keeping patients out of hospitals, such as intermediate care for patients recently discharged from hospital and community services, were already closing.
Carter added: ‘We know savings need to be made but cutting frontline staff and services is not the way to do it. While we are in an interim phase with new structures taking place we are seeing many patient services which we fear may simply disappear forever.’
The government said NHS funding was increasing by £11.5bn over the next four years and that it had made it clear that priority should be given to frontline care and services.
