3:53pm Friday 16th June 2006
By Lyndsay Southall
MORE than 1,000 NHS staff angry at plans to slash hundreds of jobs within the trust which runs Fairfield and North Manchester general hospitals will be protesting this weekend.
The Pennine Acute NHS Hospital Trust is being forced to axe up to 800 jobs within its four hospitals at Fairfield, North Manchester, The Royal Oldham and Rochdale Infirmary although union representatives claim that figure is more likely to be around 1,200.
Last month's announcement of the redundancies, which health chiefs are blaming on changes made in the way hospitals are funded, came as the trust admitted it was facing debts of more than £21 million.
It is not yet known how many jobs will go from each hospital site, but health chiefs want the majority of losses taken up by "natural wastage".
Staff from the trust have joined together to form "Keep Our NHS Public" and will be demonstrating on Saturday at Victoria Station in Manchester at 11.30am.
Karen Reissmann, UNISON health service executive member, said: "The NHS faces massive cuts in jobs. Accident and emergency services may have to close, mental health is in crisis and maternity and baby care is under threat in Bury.
"These cuts and job losses will devastate health services.
"The Government could easily afford to pay the current NHS debt, which is less than one per cent of its total budget.
"This is a direct result of their privatisation policies. We demand that the government gives the NHS the money and keeps our NHS public."
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk