Withybush Hospital staff 'at breaking point' (From Western Telegraph)

Withybush Hospital staff 'at breaking point'

11:38am Wednesday 1st September 2010 in

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Staffing levels at Withybush Hospital are “at breaking point” and there are fears that a system of approval to fill vacant posts could make things worse.

The chairman of Save Withybush Action Team (SWAT) Dr Chris Overton says the pressure group is reactivating its campaign and will vigourously object to any downgrading of current services.

Dr Overton said: “The level of staffing is such that all are at breaking point now, they are constantly having to ask people to do extra shifts or overtime, if they start taking those away — one here, one there — within 12 months it then becomes what they say, unsustainable. They are making it unsustainable by reducing staff.

“Anybody with temporary contracts during the last two or three months are just having them extended on a monthly basis. The concern is that if they feel that the time is right they can just let them go.

“People are saying why would the health board spend millions on a new A&E if they were planning to down grade it? But that is the reason they might be able to reduce the services.”

A leaked email to Hywel Dda Health Board corporate services, obtained by the Western Telegraph, includes a ‘vacancy scrutiny process flowchart’ which details the lengthy process to fill vacant applications.

It shows that once a post is vacant a justification form to request that it be 're-established' must first be approved by a line manager, then finance before being sent to a “county panel representative.”

The fifth step is to prepare vacancy forms for the panel, a meeting must be held on a nominated day and the outcome recorded on a vacancy form.

The approved post is then sent to a professional director for executive approval.

If it is given final approval, a recruitment and HR representative in the workforce department is notified for 'redeployment opportunities', who then contacts the line manger involved at the start of the process.

Hywel Dda Health Board director of workforce and organisational development Janet Wilkinson said: “As public bodies, health boards have a duty to deliver safe and effective patient services within financial budgets. In this challenging financial environment, we must ensure we use NHS resources effectively.

“The health board values its workforce and has committed to making no compulsory redundancies. Other workforce controls have been put in place to ensure appropriate staffing requirements, including the production of business cases to support the re-establishment of any posts that become vacant, a review of temporary contracts approaching the end of their fixed terms, and limits on non-essential overtime and agency cover.

“These apply equally to clinical and non-clinical posts and across geographical areas.”