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 Posted: Tue 21:34, 20 Aug 2013 Post subject: Medics 'face drastic job changes' The Argus |
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Medics 'face drastic job changes' The Argus
Thousands of doctors and nurses will be sacked unless they agree to drastic changes to their pay and conditions as hospitals tackle an escalating funding crisis, it has been claimed.
A leaked document obtained by the Sunday Times outlines measures from 19 NHS bosses to maintain patient services in the face of multimillionpound budget cuts.
Among proposals are the termination of all staff contracts and a reissue on different terms that could include pay cuts of up to 5%, an end to overtime for nights, weekends and bank holidays and reduced holiday leave, the paper said. Staff may also be forced to work longer shifts and sick pay rates could be cut, it added.
The NHS is being forced to make 20 billion savings, with average hospitals needing to save at least 45m over the next five years to avoid financial disaster.
It is reported 19 chief executives of hospitals in the southwest of England have set up their own organisation outside NHS structures to drive through the changes. The measures could affect more than 60,000 NHS staff,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], with about half of them medics,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the Sunday Times said.
The ninepage document from the chief executives states that by cooperating they will be able to overcome an "extremely hostile" reaction to the steps they believe must be taken, especially if they take the "last resort" of sacking all staff and reengaging them on less favourable terms, the Sunday Times reports.
Three London hospitals have just gone into administration. To avoid a similar financial catastrophe,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], hospitals in the South West are considering pay reductions on all staff earning more than 21,000 a year,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], "perhaps on a sliding scale with a 5% cut above a certain level of pay, for example 55k".
At least two other hospitals, in Surrey and Manchester,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], have floated plans to renegotiate staff contracts,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the Sunday Times said. However, the chief executives in the South West believe that if hospitals "act in isolation" they will be "singled out" and unable to take on the trade unions.
A Department Of Health spokesman said: "NHS providers have long had the power to employ staff on such terms that they consider appropriate, including under the foundation trust laws passed under the previous government. This means employers are free to negotiate any changes to national agreements directly with staff locally or their representatives. We would expect NHS employers and trade unions to work together to ensure the national Agenda for Change pay scheme remains fit for purpose."
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said the cuts were a direct result of David Cameron's failure to honour his general election promise to protect spending on the NHS.
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