Welsh Conservatives have spoken out in support of the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) calls for Local Health Boards (LHBs) to explicitly commit to protecting frontline clinical posts and seek financial savings elsewhere in the NHS.
Commenting on the RCN’s comments, Shadow Minister for Health Andrew RT Davies AM said:
“Under the Welsh Assembly Government’s Annual Operating Framework, LHBs are being instructed to make a 3% workforce reduction of those in Band 5 and above in the NHS every year for 3 years.
“The reality of this is that approximately 2,000 FTE nursing and midwifery posts in Wales are under threat.
“As the RCN has highlighted, over £65m is spent on management in the NHS in Wales. We also know that there has been a billon pound misspend across the NHS more generally.
“In spite of this, the Assembly Government still thinks it is proper to maintain a policy that has protected former chief executives and other directors of the former LHBs and Health trusts from redundancy with protected salaries for 10 years.
“If the NHS in Wales loses the number of nurses that the Assembly Government has outlined, patient care could be dangerously compromised.
“Nursing staff in Wales work hard to ensure that patient well being and outcomes are prioritised and I would urge the Assembly Government to reconsider other possible areas of the NHS where savings could be made.
“Cutting back on frontline nursing care will only put more pressure on already stretched nursing staff and could have a serious impact on patient care.”
