More than 7,000 nurses could face axe under secret NHS plans

More than 7,000 nurse posts could be axed from NHS hospitals across the country despite a mounting Accident & Emergency crisis, new plans reveal.

Every area has been ordered to draw up measures to save £22bn and reorganise health services in order to meet rising demand from an ageing population. But new documents suggest that the proposals could result in the loss of more than 17,000 staff by 2020 – including 7,300 nurses and midwives.

Last night senior nurses said the implications for safety were “truly frightening” with widespread shortages of staff already in overstretched hospitals.

The forecasts, seen by Health Service Journal, also reveal that the plans rely on a dramatic reversal in trends which have seen casualty units under unprecedented pressure.

While A&E attendances across England have risen by 4.5 per cent and emergency admissions by 3.5 per cent in the past 12 months, the plans rely on a 4.2 per cent fall in attendances, and a 0.8 per cent drop in admissions.

Health authorities across England have been ordered to draw up 44 “sustainability and transformation plans” (STPs) to tackle rising pressures on the health service.

The controversial measures will see swingeing bed cuts in many parts of the country, and widespread closures of Accident & Emergency departments.

Full story in The Telegraph, 16 January 2017