Stroud Against the Cuts newsletter 2018/2

Before the meeting, campaigners raised concerns about the number of beds (the proposal says only that the new hospital would have a minimum of 24 beds, where the existing hospitals have 47 between them), the lack of information about the location of the new hospital and the transport issues in the Forest of Dean, and the lack of information about the services that a new hospital would provide. One placard read: "Gloucestershire NHS have lost 390 beds since 2010 - now they want to halve the number of beds in the Forest - we say no!”

County Councillor Eva Ward (Green, Stroud) and Skeena Rathor (Labour district councillor for Stroud Central who was in attendance as the District Council representatvie) raised these concerns in the meeting. Eva Ward also asked why the proposal was taking place now, ahead of the Gloucestershire Sustainability and Transformation Plan, and Skeena Rathor pursued a line of questioning which led to a round of applause when she said Gloucestershire’s NHS is facing a political challenge forced by Government underfunding.

Gloucestershire Live reported on the protest and meeting, their article features videos of Zac Arnold from HOLD and James Beecher from SATC: Day of protests as Foresters reject closure of Dilke and Lydney hospitals. We also live-tweeted the rally and meeting.

CEO of Gloucestershire Care Services, Katie Norton said "no final decision on number of beds” has been made" and that the NHS Trust and CCG "will be addressing clear feedback on fears number of beds would be reduced and wider perception proposal is about cutting services". The next step is for recommendations Gloucestershire Care Services and Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Groupwill be made at the CCG Board meeting of the Board of Glos Clinical Commissioning Group on 25th January 2018 - including whether to progress preferred option and if so process for identifying location of new hospital.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are planning to transfer 750 staff from the Estates and Facilities departments into a new arms-length company. This is to take advantage of a tax loophole. Aside from the obvious ethics, the loophole may close anyway plus changes to EU governance may prevent some benefits in the future.

The real saving is in the different (lesser) terms to new staff coming in to the new company. The current staff will undergo TUPE (transfer of undertakings, protection of employment). The reality of any TUPE, however, is that it can be overturned if there is any 'economic, technical or organisational' reason. So TUPE can be fairly weak once it has taken place and, considering savings are unlikely to bring the Hospitals' Trust board the desired amount, the staff unions, Unison and Unite (with support from the RCN), are fighting the proposals. 

There will be a meeting for the affected staff on Thursday 1st February at Oxstalls Sports Park, Plock Court, Tewkesbury Road, Longford, Gloucester GL2 9DW, 6-7pm.

Local branches of Unison, Unite and the Royal College of Nursing have also started a staff petition against the plans. The petition reads: "Our fear is that this could just be the start. The Trust claims that by setting up a subsidiary company, or “subco” they will save money by avoiding tax and cutting staff costs. Trade Unions and staff are anxious that substantial savings can only be made by eroding Terms & Conditions such as sick pay, pensions or even wages. The Board of Directors are due to make a final decision at their Board meeting in February.

We the staff of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust are calling on the Board of Directors to reject the subco option, protect staff Terms and Conditions and preserve the integrity of the NHS.

TOGETHER WE CAN FIGHT THESE NHS PRIVATISATION PLANS, AND PROTECT JOBS AND SERVICE STANDARDS IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE."

If you or anyone you know works in the Hospitals Trust, please (tell them to) look out for the petition on the Gloucester Royal Hospital Unite noticeboard. Petition sheets and information available from Hannah Basson, Unite Gloucester Area Health Sector Branch: hannah.basson@unitetheunion.org

Read the Bath Chronicle coverage: "Bath's Royal United Hospital trust considers setting up subsidiary company for 500 of its employees"

999 Call for the NHS have now released details of their third and final stage of crowdfunding, in order to raise the additional £12k that we need in order to bring the Judicial Review to court.

£10K is needed because the Judge has set our Capped Costs at £25K rather than the £15K we had asked for, plus there are additional £2K court admin costs.

This amount, when added to existing funds donated by hundreds of generous members of the public in 2017, will cover the £37,000 cost of the Judicial Review.

999 Call for the NHS are all unpaid volunteers - ordinary people with a passion to protect the NHS as a high quality comprehensive public service,  free at the point of use for all who need it. In 2014, they marched 300 miles from Jarrow to London to save the NHS.

For more on ACOs, see this recent Public Matters blog.

The NHS was founded on July 5th 1948 - and last year we held a picnic and campaign event in Trinity Pocket Park (see above picture).

In 2018, we'll be marking 70 years of the NHS at a day-long event at the Lansdown Hall in Stroud (Facebook event link - please share and invite friends).

The event will include talks, stalls, workshops, film and entertainment in the evening - and we will be collecting funds to help our campaigns to defend the NHS

More details TBC - please let us know if you would like to take part, help organise the event, or suggest ideas - we would love to hear from people who would like to perform!