frontline health service cuts

lynzpower

How are agency workers equipped exactly to work as a paramedic? Fairly specialist isnt it. ?

Thrugelmir

lynzpower wrote: »

How are agency workers equipped exactly to work as a paramedic? Fairly specialist isnt it. ?

Many people have left the health services purely to do agency work. As the pay rates are better. Work less hours for same pay. Particularly good if you do the shifts no one else wants to cover.

lynzpower

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Many people have left the health services purely to do agency work. As the pay rates are better. Work less hours for same pay. Particularly good if you do the shifts no one else wants to cover.

Elsewhere in the government there is agency freeze though, and many who are agency have realized, there is no work, as for example they cut the amount of nurses needed overnight, or cut the amount of staff in on operations. im amazed smoe trusts are stil paying stupid money to be honest?

vivatifosi

lynzpower wrote: »

Well what is happening is that all LAS staff will be considered as to whether they can get away with lone working them. Given the physical abuse LAS get, I can see this one blowing right up for the LAS. I know they have no choice tho.

I hope they don't lone work them. It is unfair to the workers to be put into dangerous situations alone, be they ambulance crews, police or fire. The public sector loves lone working as a concept and a way of saving money but they can't see the bl**dy obvious - ie the danger they are putting their staff in. I am all for efficiencies in the public sector but that one's a step too far.

lynzpower

Chief executive Peter Bradley told the Standard that a total of 560 frontline posts including paramedics will be lost, representing a 17 per cent cut. Management and support services will lose 330 jobs.
He said they would also be bringing forward the use of single responders - emergency cars with one paramedic. They will be phased in from September to handle all non-emergency calls.
There are currently 110 lone paramedics on duty but this number will increase significantly. Mr Bradley said they would be used in cases where people dial 999 with minor complaints such as chest infections, flu or with breathing difficulties which turn out to be non-serious.
The move comes as a "crucial" time target for 999 calls was recently scrapped. Under the new system which came into force on April 1, paramedics attending serious but non-life-threatening cases will no longer have to respond within 19 minutes.
Instead, their performance will be assessed against a new set of measures, such as how heart attack or stroke victims do once they get to hospital. Health campaigners condemned the move saying the changes affecting the category B calls will lead to fewer ambulances and paramedics.
A student paramedic, who has been working as an ambulance technician for six years, said the job cuts will inevitably affect patient care.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he told the Standard: "If you cut back on staff then inevitably you affect patient care. Of course there will be implications for those who dial 999."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23940772-560-frontline-ambulance-jobs-axed-in-london.do
I like the way they can work out on the phone, whether it is an emergency or not and whether to send 1 or 2 people. We know how this works and the above it total lies.

Police lone working has got to be the worst. Social work lone working had its moments for my colleague who was attacked with a samurai sword.

Thrugelmir

lynzpower wrote: »

Elsewhere in the government there is agency freeze though,

Agreed but only in more recent times.

lavandergirl_2

ninky wrote: »

have you seen what these people are paid? do you think that's too high?

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=132

you forgot to mention the verbal and physical assault frontline staff get

Wookster

One of my uncles works as a consultant in a busy A & E department in London.

He says that the ambulance service gets dozens of calls to take people to the hospital because they need a haircut or because they need to get to nearby shops.

Such spurious call outs need to be charged out at a reasonable rate to discourage people from using the service frivolously.

michaels

There seems to be a general impression that living within our means as a country is optional and that the reason the current gov is not increasing health spending in real terms and paying all NHS staff more whilst also increasing staffing levels is out of spite and presumably because they want to be unpopular?

StevieJ

Wookster wrote: »

One of my uncles works as a consultant in a busy A & E department in London.

He says that the ambulance service gets dozens of calls to take people to the hospital because they need a haircut or because they need to get to nearby shops.

Such spurious call outs need to be charged out at a reasonable rate to discourage people from using the service frivolously.

Does he sideline as a journo for the Daily Mail