NHS at a crossroads, warns RCN
Published: 11 September 2007
This afternoon, at the TUC Fringe, The NHS: Time for a New Direction, Dr Peter Carter, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, will call for sustained funding in the NHS.
Responding to the Wanless Report, Our Future Health Secured?, launched today, Dr Carter will say:
“There is no doubt that the Government was absolutely right to increase investment in the NHS and we should not underestimate the improvements in some areas. But it now seems we’re at a crossroads. Yes, we need to carry on looking at ways to target investment more effectively but if we reduce spending now, then progress made will be progress lost.
“Experience shows us that when investment drops, NHS staff are the first to be targeted with 22,000 posts lost in the NHS over the last 18 months. We already have the sad state of affairs where thousands of newly qualified healthcare workers can’t find jobs, while staff on the wards and in the community are struggling to cope with spiralling workloads. All because trusts across the country were facing the financial squeeze.
“What the NHS needs now, more than ever, are policies that ensure organisational stability and a Comprehensive Spending Review that delivers sustained funding for the NHS.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
The fringe meeting, NHS: Time For a New Direction, will be held at 12.45 at the Ambassador Room, Hilton Metropole Hotel, King’s Road. Speakers include: Dr Peter Carter, General Secretary of the RCN, Brendan Barber, General Secretary, TUC and Leslie Mercer, Director of Employment, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.