NHS trust plans to cut consultant posts to make savings
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《英国医生杂志》
An NHS trust in England has announced that it will cut consultant and house officer posts next year. The trust is being asked to make savings to make up for budget overspends by other trusts. A survey of medical directors has warned that similar cuts may be made elsewhere ( BMJ 2005;331: 716, 1 Oct).
Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare Trust has proposed that it will cut seven consultant posts by March and reduce by six or seven the number of new senior house officers recruited over the following 12 months, in addition to closing one adult ward and reducing out of hours and occupational therapy services. It is making the cutbacks after being told by Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority to cut ￡5.9m ($10.3m; 8.7m) from its budget.
The cuts represent about 10% of the trust's operating budget, said a spokesman, David Penney. He said the trust expected to allow the posts to fall empty as consultants retire or move on but warned that redundancies could not be ruled out.
The head of the BMA's consultants' committee, Paul Miller, said that cutting consultant posts was "outrageous" and unprecedented. "This is not the right way to save money," he added.
But the proposed cuts in Oxfordshire could be followed by similar reductions in other areas. "We have just completed a survey of more than 120 medical directors across the country, and we found deficits were extremely common," Dr Miller said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the government discourages any cuts in consultant numbers. "We believe trusts can manage deficits in ways that don't impact on patient care. We have provided guidance on alternative ways to cut spending, such as spending less on agency staff."(Owen Dyer)
Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare Trust has proposed that it will cut seven consultant posts by March and reduce by six or seven the number of new senior house officers recruited over the following 12 months, in addition to closing one adult ward and reducing out of hours and occupational therapy services. It is making the cutbacks after being told by Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority to cut ￡5.9m ($10.3m; 8.7m) from its budget.
The cuts represent about 10% of the trust's operating budget, said a spokesman, David Penney. He said the trust expected to allow the posts to fall empty as consultants retire or move on but warned that redundancies could not be ruled out.
The head of the BMA's consultants' committee, Paul Miller, said that cutting consultant posts was "outrageous" and unprecedented. "This is not the right way to save money," he added.
But the proposed cuts in Oxfordshire could be followed by similar reductions in other areas. "We have just completed a survey of more than 120 medical directors across the country, and we found deficits were extremely common," Dr Miller said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the government discourages any cuts in consultant numbers. "We believe trusts can manage deficits in ways that don't impact on patient care. We have provided guidance on alternative ways to cut spending, such as spending less on agency staff."(Owen Dyer)