- Health Secretary says the ground-breaking decision is in the interest of patients
- Trust is struggling to pay off Labour-agreed PFI deals costing 61m a year in interest
By Claire Bates
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An NHS hospital trust losing 1m a week has been put into administration to try and stop it collapsing, the Department of Health said today.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has appointed a trust special administrator to try and turn around the struggling South London Healthcare NHS Trust.
Queen Elizabeth hospital in Woolwich is one of three that makes up the South London Healthcare Trust
Mr Lansley said: 'I have decided it is in the interests of the health service and, in particular, of the patients the Trust serves.'
The Trust has been put on an 'unsustainable providers regime' and the government has appointed Matthew Kershaw with the task of putting it back on a 'viable footing.'
Mr Kershaw currently works as the national director for provider delivery at the Department of Health. He will take over the Trust's board on Monday July 16 and recommend measures to Mr Lansley at the start of next year.
The chairs and directors have been informed that they have been suspended from board duties.
It is the first time in NHS history that a trust has been forced to hand over its administration powers to the Department of Health after failing to meet prescribed standards.
New appointment: Matthew Kershaw is the special administrator tasked with sorting out the Trust
The Trust was only created in 2009 after the merger of three hospitals - the Princess Royal in Orpington, Queen Mary's in Sidcup and the Queen Elizabeth in Woolwich.
Yet it has gone 150million in the red over the past three years largely because of crippling Private Finance Initiative deals agreed by the last Labour government. The two PFI deals are now costing 61million a year in interest.
Last year's deficit, paid off by money from elsewhere in the NHS budget, could have paid for 1,200 nurses or 200 hip replacements a week.
The Health Secretary stepped in after draft financial plans showed the trust would have a deficit of between 30million and 75million a year for the next five years, despite efforts to tackle the situation.
Today he said: 'Past efforts have not succeeded in putting the South London Healthcare Trust on a sustainable path.
'This will be a big challenge and my key objective for all NHS Trusts is to ensure they deliver high-quality services to patients that are clinically and financially sustainable for the long term.
'The purpose of the trust special administrator is to ensure that services are high quality and to ensure a lasting clinical and financial solution.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said the ground-breaking decision was in the interest of patients
'Although there have been some improvements in mortality rates, maternity services and infection control, and some early signs of improvements in waiting times, they do not go far enough. It will be impossible for South London to build on these improvements while tackling such a large deficit.
'Matthew, working with clinicians, all other staff, commissioners, patients, the public and other stakeholders, must now drive the changes and shape a sustainable solution for South London Healthcare NHS Trust and the local health economy.
'I am confident that with the regime I am enacting today in place, and working extensively with clinicians, health service leaders, patients and local people, Matthew will have the tools and framework in place to find a long-term satisfactory solution for the people of south east London.'
Mr Kershaw will first publish a report on October 29 after examining the Trust's long-standing difficulties. He will then launch a 30-day consultation with staff, patients and public on a draft report. A final report will be sent to Mr Lansley on January 8, 2013.
Mr Kershaw said: 'My priority is to work with staff, patients, the public and all those involved in healthcare services in the south east London area to maintain high quality, effective services during the running of the Unsustainable Provider Regime.
'This means developing recommendations that ensure that people in south east London can access high quality, safe, and financially sustainable NHS services for the long-term.
'Together we will need to think differently, be bold and accept that change needs to happen. The status quo is not sustainable.'
A spokesman for the Royal College of Nursing, said: 'This announcement is an unprecedented step by the Secretary of State and moves the NHS into unchartered waters.
'It presents a worrying state of affairs for both patients and staff at the Trust, who will be undoubtedly concerned by today’s decision.
'We know that the Trust has been in financial difficulties for some time. However, despite this, frontline staff have continued to do their best for patients, providing a high level of care.'
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London 2012: depth of G4S security crisis revealed - The Guardian
The depth of the crisis over G4S's Olympic security preparations became increasingly clear on Thursday as recruits revealed details of a "totally chaotic" selection process and police joined the military in bracing themselves to fill the void left by the private security contractor.
Guards told how, with 14 days to go until the Olympics opening ceremony, they had received no schedules, uniforms or training on x-ray machines. Others said they had been allocated to venues hundreds of miles from where they lived, been sent rotas intended for other employees, and offered shifts after they had failed G4S's own vetting.
The West Midlands Police Federation reported that its officers were being prepared to guard the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, which will host the football tournament, amid concerns G4S would not be able to cover the security requirements.
"We have to find officers until the army arrives and we don't know where we are going to find them from," said Chris Jones, secretary of the federation.
G4S has got a £284m contract to provide 13,700 guards, but only has 4,000 in place. It says a further 9,000 are in the pipeline.
G4S sent an urgent request on Thursday to retired police asking them to help. A memo to the National Association of Retired Police Officers said: "G4S Policing Solutions are currently and urgently recruiting for extra support for the Olympics. These are immediate starts with this Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday available. We require ex-police officers ideally with some level of security clearance and with a Security Industry Association [accreditation], however neither is compulsory."
Robert Brown, a former police sergeant, told the Guardian that he pulled out of the recruitment process for the Games after seeing it close at hand.
He said: "They were trying to process hundreds of people and we had to fill out endless forms. It was totally chaotic and it was obvious to me that this was being done too quickly and too late."
Another G4S trainee, an ex-policeman, described the process as "an utter farce".
He added: "There were people who couldn't spell their own name. The staff were having to help them. Most people hadn't filled in their application forms correctly. Some didn't know what references were and others said they didn't have anyone who could act as a referee. The G4S people were having to prompt them, saying things like "what about your uncle?"
Tim Steward, a former prison officer, said he was recruited by G4S in March as a team leader but said he would not be working at the Games because of a series of blunders.
Steward said he provided documentation for vetting but G4S had said it did not have the information on record and so closed his file. The security firm then offered him a training session at short notice, which he could not attend, but it did not offer an alternative.
A recruit who was interviewed in March and completed training last month, said: "There are people like me that are vetted and trained in security and would be happy to work, but can't. Some of the classes were of around 200 in size with only two trainers accommodating the training for a class of this size.
"I am yet to hear from G4S regarding my screening, accreditation, uniform or even a rough start date. I know many people also who will be commencing work on 27 July who have had absolutely no scheduled on-site training. They are simply being chucked into their role on x-ray machines, public screening areas and even athlete screening areas."
Another guard who has been trained as an x-ray operator, complained that he was unable to get through to G4S to find out when and where he was meant to be working, and was once left on hold on the phone for 38 minutes.
One student applicant said he had already spent £650 on travel and hotel bills to attend training and was now worried that, because he had not received any accreditation or rota from G4S, he might not be given the shifts that would enable him to cover those costs. He said he had expected to earn about £2,000 over the period of the Games.
G4S's own Facebook page for new recruits is littered with similar complaints.
"They've placed me in Manchester and I want to work in London," wrote Glenn Roseman. "Some idiot has changed my location, I'm never going to get any work now."
Christian Smith complained: "I did the training course, passed, and got my own security industry association licence, only to fail G4S vetting. Two days after I got their letter, they rang me, and asked me what days I could work."
Rickie Hill reported that he had been sent someone else's schedule.
Billy Edmunds said that he had been told on the telephone that he was to work four day shifts at the ExCel Centre, only to find when he checked the system later that he had been allocated three night shifts at a different location which he could not attend. "I give up," he said. "Thanks for wasting my time for eight months G4S."
The Guardian put the allegations to G4S. A spokesman for the company responded: "We are unable to respond to the specific questions you raise because to do so would involve pulling staff, who are working hard to mobilise the 2012 workforce, off the work they are doing.
"We will enquire into the claims that are made and we take very seriously any allegation of poor standards on our part."
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
School celebrates Portuguese culture (From Watford Observer) - Watford Observer
Laurance Haines Primary School celebrates Portuguese culture
5:45pm Thursday 12th July 2012 in News By Rebecca Perring, Reporter
Children from a school in Watford took a dip into Portuguese culture at a traditional Festa last weekend.
Pupils and parents were invited along to The Laurance Haines Primary School, in Vicarage Road, to enjoy Portuguese food, music and folk dance.
The Festa, a traditional yearly event in Portuguese culture that celebrates food, dance and music has been running at the school for four years after parents suggested the idea. Laurance Haines Primary School has a growing number of Portuguese children, and 84 per cent of the pupils being of an ethnic minority.
Michelle Penny, black and ethnic minority achievement co-ordinator, said: "The day was amazing. "It is getting bigger and bigger each year, which is great because it is very important to celebrate different cultures in our school."
The crowds of 1,200 screamed in delight as they enjoyed a performance by a male Portuguese pop star, known as Nel Monteiro.
Since the success of the annual summer Festas the Watford Portuguese Association has now been set up in the hope of expanding the event. Money raised on the day, on July 7, went towards the Watford Peace Hospice.
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Source: www.watfordobserver.co.uk
If the Trust is declared bankrupt then the contract with the PFI can be torn up and a new one negotiated. Lets hope they play hardball with the PFI contractor and get most of the debt just written off. It's what a PFI company would do if *it* couldn't afford to pay its debt!
- David Jones, Essex, 12/7/2012 23:42
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