Suffolk ‘NHS crisis’ blamed on government

A health union has claimed in a report that the financial difficulties of the NHS in Suffolk are the fault of the government.

According to the East Anglian Daily Times, the report, entitled Suffolk Punched, researched by pressure group London Health Emergency and commissioned by Unison, states that under-funding, wasteful reorganisations and a payment by results system are the causes of Suffolk council’s debts.

Geoff Reason, regional head of health for Unison eastern, told the newspaper that despite service cuts and job losses, the NHS was performing at a high level.

“People will rightly ask, ‘Why is this now being lost as more and more financial restrictions are being introduced,” he added.

Mr Reason also expressed concerns that the forthcoming Strategic Health Authority review would result in additional closures and cuts masquerading as progress, citing at-home treatment of patients as such an example.

This week, Unison stated that the government’s 1.5 per cent limit on pay increases in the public sector could precipitate a “disaster” in the NHS.

It is claimed that by imposing the limit that the Treasury was intervening in the decision of the Pay Review Body for Nursing and other Health Professionals, an independent body.