Rochdale hospital staff join demo against job losses

Date article online: 27/06/2006

Following the news that 800 posts could be lost at Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust because of a £22M shortfall in its budget, the Pennine Acute Health Branch of Unison, which represents all grades of staff at the Rochdale hospitals and the other Pennine sites, organised a march through Manchester city centre on Saturday 24 June. The march culminated in a demonstration at Castlefield where they were joined by other Pennine unions in order to show their anger at the cuts that could see 10% of the workforce lose their jobs. The march assembled opposite Victoria Station at 11.30 am. Patients and staff joined the march and even took their children and families along.

Unison Branch Secretary Pete Hinchliffe said: "The message is clear. This is not just about jobs. It strikes at the very core of patient services. It is often forgotten that NHS staff and their families live close to the hospitals they work in. When cuts like these are made, the health of the whole region can suffer. We are opposed to all job losses whether by so-called "natural wastage’ or compulsory redundancies.

"It is a well known fact that the population served by Pennine has some of the worst health problems in the UK. We should be employing more health staff not sacking the ones we have. We do not know yet what particular posts will be affected   yet but job cuts in any area will be strongly resisted. There have already been calls for industrial action if this goes ahead. This government can always find money to go fighting wars in Iraq but doesn’t seem to be interested in providing adequate healthcare for its own citizens. As was evidenced at the Unison and Royal College of Nursing conferences last month where the Health Minister was booed, jeered and heckled, the government has clearly lost the confidence of NHS staff."

At the root of this issue is the way in which acute trusts are being funded by central government and in particular, the "payment by results’ system. Branch officials have attended a lobby of MPs in Parliament and are organising a petition to hand in to 10 Downing Street. Hospital gate demonstrations are being planned for 5 July, the anniversary of the founding of the NHS.