NHS and health

A workplace bulletin by Lewisham Hospital workers, for Lewisham Hospital workers. Click here to download the PDF.

Members of UNITE in Yorkshire Ambulance service took two successful days of industrial action in a dispute over issues including rotas and meal breaks. UNITE are also still in dispute over the Trust's decision to derecognise them last year. UNISON, the majority union in the service, have also rejected the terms and conditions package, after a 70% reject vote from members. The branch has threatened to ballot for action if the Trust don't back down on the proposals. After many staff were down banded last year and UNISON failed to put up any fight against this union members made sure on this...

A workplace bulletin by Lewisham Hospital workers, for Lewisham Hospital workers. Click here to download the PDF.

As part of the government’s response to the Francis Report in misconduct in the NHS, they have introduced a “duty of candour” for clinical staff. It is designed as an antidote to the bullying culture that led to the abuses at the Mid-Staffs NHS Trust. A recent study by Durham University found that nearly half of all NHS staff have witnessed bullying at work. Another survey found that a quarter of doctors and a third of nurses say they have been bullied into doing things they know are bad for patient care. Bullying is endemic in the NHS. It creates a toxic atmosphere in which patients die. The...

A workplace bulletin for Lewisham Hospital workers, by Lewisham Hospital workers. Click here to download the PDF.

A workplace bulletin by Lewisham Hospital workers, for Lewisham Hospital workers. Click here to download the PDF.

The 4:1 nurse ratio campaign argues nurses cannot look after an unlimited number of patients without patients suffering. To ensure there is a safe number of nurses on shift there needs to be a mandatory patient to nurse ratio (4:1). Without that bottom line, financial pressures will always lead to reductions in nurses on shift. NHS nurses have to look after up to 14 patients at a time. One person can’t even identify the needs of that many people, never mind meet them. Nursing practice becomes limited to giving out medications, while the ongoing care and assessment of the patient is carried out...

Charlotte Monro, an occupational therapist and chair of the Unison branch at Whipps Cross Hospital in north east London, has been sacked for speaking out against cuts. Charlotte faced disciplinary charges, and was ultimately dismissed, after she raised concerns about a planned reorganisation resulting from the merger of two NHS trusts in 2012 which created Barts Health, the trust which now controls Whipps Cross (along with five other hospitals, including the Royal London in Whitechapel). A demonstration to demand Charlotte’s reinstatement was planned for Wednesday 4 December at 5pm, outside...

A workplace bulletin for Lewisham Hospital workers, by Lewisham Hospital workers. Click here to download the PDF.

The first part of the Keogh Report into urgent and emergency care was published last week. It claims it will lead a complete overhaul of the system it acknowledges is at breaking point. The numbers of people accessing urgent and emergency care have risen year on year. Though there is little detailed analysis of what has caused these rise, the report cites an increased elderly population with complex health needs, difficulty accessing out of hours GPs, and the government raising expectations of the system by promoting a market style consumer ethos towards the NHS. Keogh wants fewer people to...