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'You cannot make cuts without risks'
BOSSES from the three primary care trusts in Bucks have admitted that the timetable for a proposed service redesign is too optimistic, with staff consultation on the proposals due to end today (Wednesday).
Lynda Lake-Stewart, acting chief executive of the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust, Dr James Mapstone, who holds the same position at the Chiltern and South Bucks PCT, Elaine Coleridge Smith, assistant director of Childrens and Family Services, and Jane Taptiklis, assistant director of adult and older peoples services, faced questions from Bucks County Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Public Health Services on Friday.
Mrs Lake-Stewart explained that efforts to reduce a combined deficit of 18 million, which will be carried over to a new countywide PCT which comes into existence on October 1, are currently focusing on finding 2.5 million worth of savings and told the meeting PCT bosses were very aware of public concern over the proposals.
Mrs Lake-Stewart said pay costs for the coming financial year are estimated at 35, 718, 475 with predicted budget of only 33, 218,192. She stressed community hospitals were not included in the consultation, said bed occupancy rates were constantly changing and said there must be a minimum number of staff to make sure that patients can be safely cared for.
Mrs Lake-Stewart also said the document proposes integrate adult and older peoples services and child health services to be more efficient and effective.
But she warned: "You cannot remove 2.5 million of services without there being risks."
Committee chairman Mike Appleyard said members believed the proposals represented a significant change in service and the committee now wanted to focus on implications for the future.
Cllr Pam Bacon said she was very concerned about the impact of the service reductions on the public while Cllr Margaret Aston said there was great concern among community nurses and other professionals.
She said: "District nurses are feeling totally lost. There are a lot of very stressed people who don't know if they will have a job. I am speechless to be honest."
Cllr David Rowlands said he was concerned the rural north of the county did not have a similar support infrastructure to elsewhere in Bucks. He said: "Taxpayers should be consulted and a public meeting really is the only way forward."
Cllr Wendy Mallen warned that members of the public were becoming increasingly worried about the NHS. She said: "We are dancing to the Government's tune and finding that the NHS is being cut. Where are the next round of cuts going to be? If you keep reducing skills and nurses, it will be in a terrible state."
Cllr Appleyard urged the primary care trusts to consult more widely with partners who would be able to help them through the problems. "Bucks County Council expects to be kept fully informed," he added.
This was first published in The Bucks Herald on September 13, 2006
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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