Under-staffed hospital ‘is a mess’, claims MP
9:23am Tuesday 18th December 2012 in News
THE Royal Bolton Hospital has been branded “a mess” by MP Julie Hilling in Parliament.
The Bolton West MP was hitting out at the Government’s handling of the NHS during a debate in the Commons.
She also criticised punishing fines handed to the Royal Bolton for missing infection targets as “utterly mad” and claimed one of her constituents, who she named only as “Colin”, had spent four days on a ward staffed by only one nurse working a 12-hour shift.
She said: “The hospital has faced five per cent cuts each year since 2010 and it has been told to save £50 million over the next three years — a sixth of its budget. We all know the Royal Bolton is in a mess.
“Some of that is of its own making, contracts were signed that repaid less money than the cost of treatment the hospital is outlaying, and it has faced fines for missing targets, such as £4 million for missing its clostridium difficile target.
“That seems utterly mad to me. On the one hand the Government says ‘your treatment was inadequate’. On the other they take a fine of £4 million from the hospital, taking that money from the health care of my constituents, which must make that treatment more inadequate.”
Ms Hilling said she was “confident” the new leadership at the Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust would “turn around financial and clinical control in the hospital”.
She added: “But faced with £50 million-worth of cuts, services will have to be reduced.
“Already, seven per cent of patients are having to wait longer than 18 weeks for treatment, and more and more people are having to wait longer than four hours in accident and emergency — and, of course, that will lead to more fines, which seems nonsense to me.”
The MP told of Colin’s case. He was admitted to hospital for four nights with a strangulated hernia.
Ms Hilling said: “He told me only one nurse was on duty for the entire ward for the 12-hour shift from 7pm until 7am, and she often had to leave the ward to help a colleague in a similar position on an adjoining ward.
“Owing to staffing levels, patients were woken in the middle of the night for their medication and blood tests.
“Colin was full of praise for the hospital staff, who were determined to do their best.”
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Comments (21)
9:53am Tue 18 Dec 12
Tim Burr says...
10:33am Tue 18 Dec 12
Bendix says...
12:09pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Boltontoday says...
THE number of staff calling in sick at the Royal Bolton Hospital has fallen — but it is still failing its target for staff sickness.
In August, each division across the hospital had reduced staff sickness, bringing down the month’s figure to 4.29 per cent.
But this is still falling short of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust’s internal 3.75 per cent target, and behind the Operating Framework for 2012-13, whose target is three per cent.
The figure for Bolton so far this year Bolton is 4.8 per cent.
The Trust has 5,489 members of staff, meaning in August about 235 called in sick — 30 more than their target.
2:49pm Tue 18 Dec 12
berushka says...
3:57pm Tue 18 Dec 12
steveG says...
I must have dreamt that.
4:23pm Tue 18 Dec 12
lemondrizzle says...
5:28pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Andyroost says...
5:53pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Bendix says...
6:45pm Tue 18 Dec 12
lindlandl says...
As for spouting on about something she knows nothing about etc, how would you know anything about what is actually going on considering, according to you, you left the country many years ago? If you disagree with Ms Hilling your unnecessarily aggressive and wholly ignorant attitude lend no weight to your argument, whatever it is.
6:52pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Kaewyed says...
7:10pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Kaewyed says...
ad very Intellectual.
8:12pm Tue 18 Dec 12
macauley says...
nagement.
10:52pm Tue 18 Dec 12
Kaewyed says...
12:17am Wed 19 Dec 12
Mike23 says...
Any accountant/economist will tell you, if a company/organisation acts suboptimally, this is the first stages to its collapse.
Businesses do not fail because of some single, corrupt act, it is caused through a multitude of small, little things. Staff stop performing the basics, people don't check things correctly, a manager will take a short cut, a director will not challenge correctly, because he will fear losing his bonus.
How many senior managers hide behind the pathetic dribble that is offered by corporate consultants? Short termism folks...every major organisation is guilty as charged.
The seeds to this situation were sown along time ago, when banks realised that by selling debt to companies rather than companies using their own equity to finance projects, the gravy train changed from a trickle to flow.
The big corporate accounting firms kept advising, sell yer shares, get some debt, reduce your cost of capital.
Directors then started to understand that big gains, better tax positions could soon be achieved.
Why, if I came up to you tomorrow and said, I'll save you £50k by moving your money offshore, would you take it?
Greed my friends, it gets in your blood, its a drug, I need my BMW, I need my suntan, I need my designer clothes...well do you?
If it means that your hospital is falling apart, your children don't have a proper education, your grandma sleeps in soiled knickers. Your neighbour has to wait 2 hours for an ambulance, your streets are filthy, your town is full of drunks, takeaways, your museum has nothing to exhibit, your buses are run by a group of people who live over 3000 miles away?
You are all guilty of it, you want your high paid pensions, you want top services, you want decency, yet you vote for a corrupt group of people, who only care about their expenses, their £40k pension/month and who they can wine & dine.
Well, when a hospital borrows £2m+ to finance a car park, you know what they care about and it isn't people.
10:41am Wed 19 Dec 12
hoboh2o says...
The reality is we should all be voting for local people who represent them in all elections, not 'branded label' politicians for whom following the party line is more important than the voters.
If you don't believe this then why will they not allow a vote on Europe?
11:27am Wed 19 Dec 12
boltonnut says...
10:55pm Wed 19 Dec 12
Kaewyed says...
12:41pm Sat 22 Dec 12
Willow311 says...
Lets face it working with ill people can't be healthy! Humans have a habit of sharing our germs.
Along with the stress of losing jobs etc what else could be expected?
One way of curing staff sickness in hospitals is don't have ill people filling up hospital beds, but that would sort of defeat the object wouldn't it.
2:52pm Sat 22 Dec 12
jenberts says...
7:21pm Sun 23 Dec 12
genesis22 says...
7:44am Mon 24 Dec 12
DaveLister says...
The Cheif executive of the PCT was made redundant and the pay off is no mre than his entitlement as part of the pension plan everyone in the NHS is at liberty to join.
I work in private sector and I dont know where you think the gulf between the public and private sector is, but I get unlimited sickness at full pay, private health plan, a pensions that would make an MP green with envy and a car.
People are alway quick to say how good the public sector have it, especailly if they dont have good terms and conditions. It is typical response. A good example of this is as follows "An Americian walks down the street and see a man in a brand new Rolls Royce, he thinks Gee that guy has done well I want to be like him. A Boltonnian is walking down street and see a man in a new Rolls Royce and thinks why has he got that, he a cheat and a thief lets take it off him"
No one has picked up on the issue of low numbers of staff on wards, once the 500 jobs cuts into play all wards will only have one member of staff at night, what happens when tow patient have a heart attack at night? or two patients need the toilet at same time. We are going back in time here, this is what should be being talked about here, not how much so and so gets more than me.
Its you health service, your health that will be put at risk if the cuts go ahead. Believe me if they can get rid of 500 staff A&E will be sure to go.
Stop moaning and do some thing!