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Andrew SimpsonLiberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson for Northampton North constituency and local campaigner |
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NHS in Crisis
September 20, 2006 5:55 PM
By Andrew Simpson in Lib Dem Federal Conference Emergency debate on NHS in Crisis
By Andrew Simpson in Lib Dem Federal Conference Emergency debate on NHS in Crisis
Conference
In 1997 Labour told us that there was '24 hours to save the NHS' and yet here we are 9 years later debating an NHS in Crisis. How can it be that they got it so wrong?
In Northampton our General Hospital has closed 7 wards in the last few weeks trying to deal with a £20 million shortfall in funding.
This has been done under the guise of 're-modelling services' and so no consultation has taken place.
Talking about this as a crisis is an understatement it is more like a scene out of a poor Ealing comedy.
One week the hospital announced a ward closure the next week it had to be reopened at the weekend due to a high level of car accidents and an increase in asthma attacks because of a high pollen count.
No wonder one nurse told me that 'staff at Northampton General Hospital are completely demoralised as they don't know from one day to the next what is going on and which wards will close'
Hardly a way to manage a modern health service is it?
When Labour's Ultra Blairite MP for Northampton North, Sally Keeble, was questioned on this by a local constituent all she could say was ' well they have had more money they are just not managing it right'.
So now Labour are blaming the managers - wasn't it them that created reams of managers under their target driven culture ?
And don't look to the Tories for any help.
Northamptonshire faces a 'double-whammy' in this respect as the Conservative controlled County Council have made savage cuts to social services closing respite care and vital facilities for the elderly and for people with disabilities.
I can tell you there is no sign of Cameron's so called 'Caring Conservatism' in Northamptonshire. His Councillors see the sick, the elderly and the vulnerable as a low priority and are instead more interested in investing in country roads for their 4X4's.
As Labour's savings drive cuts hospital services local Tories pull the rug from under people's feet by closing respite care facilities. This makes a complete mockery of the Government's proposals to 're-model' services within the community.
So at every level of social care and health in Northampton we are facing a crisis in funding - but more than that a human crisis which is damaging people's lives and putting the health of the wider community at risk.
Some of the services suspended or cut in this current crisis are services that help prevent health problems and add to the quality of life for citizens.
To deal with the funding gap in Northamptonshire IVF treatments have been suspended. Causing misery to many couples wanting a family. Other treatments have been deemed a low priority and suspended or cut - among them sterilizations, drugs for obesity, nicotine replacement drugs, gluten free foods and cosmetic skin surgery.
And the latest I heard is that psychologists are to be sacked with a vague possibility of re-employing when funding becomes available.
Make no mistake lives are being put at risk by this crisis.
One hospital worker at NGH said 'The pressures on staff from cuts can lead to mistakes causing injury and even death'.
Conference it is time to take the NHS out of the hands of a meddling Labour Government and into the hands of the carers themselves.
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