Some observations from a NHS health worker on the risk register

undearneath i publish a special guest post from a comrade who works in the NHS and holds the service close to her heart. her name is helen ridett a proud member of the socialist party like myself and i'm more than happy to share with you her thoughts on the NHS risk register she has kindly let me have to share with you all. Hope they make a echo and get shared far and wide to help people understand what is to happen to our NHS.

Some Observations on The NHS Risk Register…



The government is proceeding with this bill blindly not knowing the impact of recent amendments to the bill. They don’t really know how much these changes will cost or whether they can afford to implement the new ones, all during a period when the country is in masses of debt. The bill does not guarantee that the treasury will be able to get new savings i.e. efficiencies out of the NHS when the system is put into place



New NHS structures are being created and old ones dismantled and no one knows whether the old or the new teams will control the budget and when the Gps’ will be in a position to take over holding it. Also no one really knows who will be accountable if things go wrong as there are no clear lines of responsibility. This means that if things fall apart and the new NHS system doesn’t work everyone will point the finger at everyone else and there will be no one to take responsibility. If, for eg; a private company takes over a community health team and a patient suffers harm or neglect and that same company then goes bust what happens then? Where does the patient or their relative get redress during the transition to the new system?



The register highlights that GPs are not trained properly to either hold the budgets or to buy the care that you and I might need in future. When GP’s are spending their time training for this new job they will have less time to spend with patients. The GP’s haven’t even reached an agreement with the government regarding how they will operate within the new system



It is worth noting that if the new system falls apart or doesn’t work there are no plans in place to deal with emergencies that may arise off the back of this and there appears to be no fall back plans



Staff morale will be low because of the changes and with commissioning and senior management staff at risk of loosing their jobs but being expected to dig their own graves by setting up the new system. Frontline NHS Staff are already being shifted from post to pillar around the NHS and staff may be redeployed to sites miles away from training and occupational health facilities. This problem is likely to get far worse as the NHS gets more fragmented and bits of it get taken over by more and more private firms (any qualified provider). Industrial relations are getting increasingly strained and unions may have no choice but to ballot for industrial action if the pay and conditions of NHS staff are attacked even more. Unnecessary and awkward redeployment plans add complication to an already complex situation.



Healthcare records will also become an open book as the Health and Social Care bill is going to loosen the regulations and make sharing our personal information much easier to accommodate ‘any qualified provider’. In what appears to be a chaotic, less regulated and less accountable system change patient confidentiality will be an early casualty.



The risk register also seems to readily admit that patients are not being listened to during consultations and this problem is likely to accelerate thus giving the lie to the catchphrase ‘no care about me without me’.

The desire for industrial action grows

As public and workers anger gains momentum there is evidence to suggest that the want and desire to take industrial action is becoming more and more common place in the workplace in the public sector certainly.

almost half the population supports strikes over public sector cuts. And a survey of 2,000 nurses and midwives in the trade union Unison showed that almost three-quarters are prepared to take industrial action to protect their pensions.


This is sad as Unison one of the most labour party friendly unions who seems to tie itself firmly to labour and will sell out its members at any opputunity it would seem. For example in East Herts

A STAFFING agreement which will eventually save Herts County Council £10.7m a year has been formally approved by authority members.

After endorsing the collective agreement with employees’ union UNISON about changes to terms and conditions, Cllr David Lloyd, executive member for resources and performance, said: "Despite the tough economic conditions we are facing, Herts County Council is determined to continue to provide the high quality services our residents rely on.

"We have already put into place efficiency measures that will save the council £135m over the next four years, but we need to do more in order to safeguard frontline services. Changes to our employment package, including the way we pay staff for sick leave, will generate substantial savings for the county.

“Our intention throughout has been to make any changes with the support of UNISON, so the final successful round of talks and resultant agreement is a really positive step. Both the council and UNISON believe that this agreement provides a responsible balance between the need to find savings and protect jobs and frontline services.

"This has been a difficult time for staff and we have tried to involve them throughout the process. We really appreciated their input and some of the suggestions made by employees have been included in the final package."

Changes will take effect from April 1 2012 and will be contractually binding for about 24,000 employees, including those based in schools. The £10.7m savings comprise £6.8m from the non-school staff pay bill and £3.9m from schools and will take full effect from 2013/14.


This further suggests unison are there to sell out their members and take pay cuts and cuts to sick pay laying down. How pathetic. Yet there is increasing pressure from below from workers who want to take action. As we near 30th june there will be huge pressure from rank-and-file members to take action and join the strike on that day. It is key that pressure is put on the leaders of the TUC and unison to buckle and allow their members to ballot for strike action if they so wish to. Denying them this right and holding them back or simply selling them out on their behalf is totally wrong and we must condemn unison on this decision here.

But there is evidence within the various surveys taht workersa re getting angry and do want to fight back the cuts. This is excellent news but they need to find a way to express this to their trade union leaders at the top to either act now or be removed.

There is a distinct feeling in the air i feel of a fight back on the horizon from individaul workers. Whether it comes to anything or not remains to be seen. I think 30th june will be a big barometer on where this movement is heading and if it is gaining enough momentum to take it into the autumn.

But let there be no doubt about it workers will not settle for sell outs and cuts they will want to fight if they can.