September 9, 2017 7.00 am
This story is over 48 months old
Karen Lee: Underfunding and understaffing of our NHS is a national disgrace
I was particularly concerned by the news that ULHT have now been put into financial special measures, as well as general special measures. As Lincoln’s MP and someone who has worked for the trust for a very long time, I know how this will impact on the hardworking staff, right across the organisation, from porters…
Labour MP Karen Lee. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
I was particularly concerned by the news that ULHT have now been put into financial special measures, as well as general special measures.
As Lincoln’s MP and someone who has worked for the trust for a very long time, I know how this will impact on the hardworking staff, right across the organisation, from porters and housekeepers to nurses and doctors, and of course the vital staff who perform the admin role.
The people of Lincoln, who, in my experience as MP and as a nurse, value and appreciate the care they receive from our NHS, know how hard everyone within it works to deliver a good service in difficult times.
The fact that our NHS is severely underfunded and understaffed is a national disgrace.
The current government claim to have invested in the NHS but this is smoke and mirrors, they give with one hand and take with the other.
The net result is that the NHS is underfunded, continues to be underfunded whilst they promise cuts to taxes for those on high incomes and give over £1 billion to the DUP to prop up their failing government. Their priorities are clear and the NHS does not appear to be one of them.
This is not simply a political statement from myself as a Labour MP, it is repeated by other organisations with no political axe to grind. These days it is not uncommon for a hospital trust to be placed in special measures and has happened in other areas of the country.
It is however worrying that ULHT are now in both general and financial special measures. I shall be meeting the Chief Executive of the trust, Jan Sobieraj this coming Monday to find out more and ask if there is anything that I can do as Lincoln’s MP to help.
To put what is happening into context, a recent article in the Guardian (3rd September 2017) said that NHS Providers, an organisation which represents hospital trusts in England, fears that lives could be lost because patients are being forced to spend long periods waiting in ambulances outside A&E departments or on trollies.
Chief Executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, was reported as stating that “they will struggle even more than last winter” and then went on to remind us of last winter when the Red Cross described the situation in our NHS as a Humanitarian Crisis.
The report also said that that delayed transfers of care, that is when hospitals are unable to discharge patients who are medically fit for discharge because there are problems with provision of social care, are a large factor in the shortage of hospital beds.
The report closed with a statement saying that “NHS trusts are worried that they do not have enough staff, beds and other services to manage the risk to patient safety this winter”. As a nurse at Lincoln Hospital I am aware that this is what is happening on the ground and have witnessed during my time on the wards.
Last week I spoke to the BBC’s Peter Levy about our local ambulance service, following reports stating that dangerous incidents are on the increase. I made it clear then that rather than trying to shift the blame onto hard-working staff who are under immense pressure, we laying the blame on the real cause of these issues which is the underfunding of the NHS by this government.
Having ambulances held up outside of A&E departments, with patients who are getting sicker whilst they wait to be admitted to hospital, is simply not acceptable. I recently worked a bank shift at our hospital as a nurse and I know that the wait for an ambulance for a hospital to hospital transfer has got longer, which means that by the time your patient finally gets the ambulance they have been waiting for they are sicker than they needed to be.
Hospitals, including those within ULHT, have no choice other than to employ costly agency staff.
The fact that public sector workers have had their pay capped with nurses, as one example, being 14% worse off than they were in 2010 has had a huge impact on morale and on staffing levels.
Numbers of people applying to train as nurses has fallen because of the withdrawal of nursing bursaries and this will hit the service even harder in a couple of years’ time when the shortfall now will come into effect. I attended the rally outside Westminster yesterday, where huge numbers of women and men from the public sector made it clear that it is time for the government to scrap the cap of public sector wages.
The answer to all of this is not a simple or fast solution. If we start to properly and adequately fund our NHS, end creeping privatisation and pay all public service workers what they are worth, a fair wage for a fair days work we shall start to address some of these issues. Some are historical and more deep-seated and will take time to unravel and address, but carrying on with the austerity measures which have brought our NHS to its knees cannot continue.
I care passionately about our NHS, and I care passionately about getting the very best for the city I represent. It is high time this government realised we will not tolerate the destruction of our NHS and we will put the blame firmly where it belongs.
The NHS must be properly funded and our hard-working public sector workers should be properly paid the work they do. We must halt the destruction of our NHS before it is too late.
Karen Lee was elected as the Labour MP for Lincoln in 2017.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
Historic port buildings will be brought back to life as creative studios for artists and entrepreneurs.
Six buildings in Grimsby’s Fish Dock will be converted as part of a council project to kickstart regeneration in the Kasbah.
The scheme aims to make 37 studios available for hire and create exhibition spaces, according to the newly-approved planning application.
Plans to restore Grimsby dock buildings into creative spaces. | Image: Donald Insall Associates
Some of the buildings were once occupied by major Grimsby employers such as Edwin Bacon, Ross and Youngs.
Others were home to thriving businesses, including carpenters, sail printers, basket makers, engineers and boiler makers and fish handling companies. ‘Sailor Radio’ was also transmitted from the location.
The buildings will be repaired and refurbished, with historic signage put back into place.
Councillor Callum Procter, Cabinet member for economic growth, said: “This is a really important project for Grimsby, bringing together the creative activity that’s been happening along with development of a unique affordable space for businesses and creatives to grow. I look forward to watching the space develop in the coming year.”
Work will be carried out the buildings in three phases, focusing on regenerating the three central buildings first.
The buildings will be secured against water entry before the winter, with the main construction expected to begin on mid-2022.
Another view of the proposed development. | Image: Donald Insall Associates
Historic England has backed the plans, saying: “We are very pleased to see that the buildings will be appropriately repaired and refurbished as part of the project and converted to new uses which will bring more life and activity to the historic docks.”
The application for the scheme says: “The character of the Kasbah Conservation Area and the buildings naturally lend themselves to provide large, ‘working’ ground floor spaces, with small office spaces at first floor which could become studios.”
Funding for the scheme has been provided by a grant from the Cultural Development Fund.
The council will be looking for a company to manage its day-to-day running.
More port buildings have been earmarked for regeneration if more funding is secured.
A 32-year-old man is wanted after an alleged burglary at a burger takeaway in Spalding.
Marian Nitou is wanted in relation to the burglary, which is believed to have happened at Mr Burger on Station Street in the Lincolnshire town.
Nitou is also wanted for the breach of a court order.
Lincolnshire Police are appealing for assistance to locate Nitou. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact police on 101 or via email at [email protected] quoting occurrence number 21000114538.
Alternatively, it can be reported through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online here.
Councillors at East Lindsey District Council have voted in favour of joining a working group to discuss a multi-billion pound nuclear waste disposal facility in Theddlethorpe.
The group was officially launched by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) last Tuesday and members of ELDC’s Overview Committee on Tuesday voted in favour of recommending to the authority’s executive that they take part in discussions around the potential plans for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) in Theddlethorpe.
Council leader Craig Leyland said his executive were minded to join, but added they were “fullyunderstandingtheverycontroversialnatureofthisinvitationandwhatitmeansforthelocalcommunity.”
He said the wheels had already started following LCC joining and warned it would go ahead with or without ELDC. He vowed to feed information back to the council and local community.
“As leader… I want to makesurethatallresidentshaveasmuchinformationaspossible… Beforeyoumakeadecisionyouneedtohaveadequateinformation,adequateknowledgeandunderstandingofwhatthiswholeprocessisandwhateverthedecisionwasthecouncilshouldshouldsupportthat,” he said.
Supporting the motion, Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders said: “Justbecausewesitaroundthetabledoesn’tmeantosaywe’resaying ‘goaheadanddoit’. It’slisteningsothatwehaveallthefactsbeforewetakethedecisionandthat‘sgottobetherightwayforthiscounciltogo.”
However, she said she was particularly concerned about the plight of the residents.
“People’s house sales have already stopped dead and if this is going to go on for years and years and years, I think we do need to be looking at the effect.
“There is a ripple effect coming out of choosing to look at a site like that, it will have an effect on life in Mablethorpe, it will have an effect in life in Alford, and it will have the effect of life in Louth.”
Councillors indicated they had a number of questions they wanted to be answered, including more specifically around location of the GDF.
Ward Councillor Sandra Harrison said there had been much stress among her constituents. “Some of them havereferredtotheperiodofwaitingas the ‘phoneywar’becauseitfeltsohelpless,” she said.
ELDC’s Overview Committee discussed the working group on Tuesday. | Photo: Daniel Jaines
Around 10% of the UK’s nuclear waste needs to be disposed of in more secure ways for thousands of years, and the GDF would aim to do that through a mix of engineered and natural barriers between 200-1,000 metres underground.
Theddlethorpe is one such location where storage could be placed, with potential solutions being to manoeuvre the waste out under the sea bed through a series of underground tunnels.
The surface site itself would be around 1sqkm, with the rest of the facility 200-1,000 metres underground. If plans to take the storage out to sea are confirmed, they would travel around 5-10km out.
The working group will take 6-12 months to carry out its initial processes, which will include starting conversations with local communities, identifying a search area to undertake feasibility studies.
It will also head up the setting up a longer-term partnership of local authorities, organisations, community groups and RWM, called a Community Partnership, which will cover the rest of the decision making process over the next 10-15 years until a test of support (such as a referendum) is carried out.
The plans have already sparked opposition campaigners into action with protests being held outside LCC’s offices for both previous meetings around the working group.
No protest was held outside ELDC on Tuesday out of respect for MP David Amess who was killed on Friday.
However, campaigners were watching the meeting with interest. They fear that the Test of Public Support could be removed in the future if no willing community is found or that RWM will push for a much larger search area than Theddlethorpe.
Following the meeting, Sara Bright said it would “not be in our interest for ELDC to boycott the working group” now that LCC had already joined.
However, she said: “We expect our local councillors to research way beyond the glossy RWM literature and become au fait with the local geology, look at the full impact of areas close to other nuclear installations, research how major construction is managed by large companies and take an in-depth view of job descriptions in the nuclear industry.
“They will be held fully accountable by the residents of East Lindsey. There is no margin for error with this proposed GDF.”
Protestors outside Lincolnshire County Council sang covers of popular songs changed to be thematic to their campaign at a recent executive meeting. | Photo: Daniel Jaines
Brian Swift said he hoped the working group would “carefully consider the worries and anxieties of the local community,” adding: “Nobody I have spoken to can see any benefit in the nuclear dump coming to Theddlethorpe”.
He said the area faced “10-15 years of indecision and uncertainty, which will inevitable affect people’s mental health and general wellbeing”.
He also warned councils against a “wall of silence” adding it would only add to feelings of mistrust.
ELDC’s executive committee will examine the plans on November 4.
Whatsapp
