Union bosses are claiming that a plan is in place to cut £305 million from NHS services in the Bristol area.
A document called the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) which covers Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire has been drawn up. And unions and campaigners say it includes measures which will see millions axed from budget.
Campaigners are claiming the plan will see £65 million taken out of current budgets for North Bristol Trust, £36 million from the UBHT and £4.6 million from mental health services. In total they believe the cuts to Bristol alone could reach £305 million.
The plan, in common with the other 43 plans in England, has been published in recent weeks. The British Medical Association say that the series of plans have been drawn up with the aim of cutting £22 billion from NHS budgets across the UK.
Dr Mark Porter, head of the BMA, said there is a danger the plans are being ‘used as a cover for delivering cuts, starving services of resource and patients of vital care’.
Full story in The Bristol Post, 29 November 2016