It was announced today that Worcestershire will see 720 jobs cut from its three main hospitals. One out of every seven people working for the Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust will lose their job, including doctors, nurses and NHS workers. Conservative parliamentary Spokesman Mark Garnier today expressed deep sorrow for those people affected and laid the blame for the job losses firmly at the door of the Government.
Commenting, Mark said: "People across the whole country - not just Worcestershire - must be sitting wondering where on earth all their tax money has gone. In 1997, the Labour Government inherited an NHS with a budget of £34bn. By the end of 2007/8, this will have trebled to an eye-watering £92bn (or 9.8% of GDP). Yet despite the huge increase in NHS spend, service have not gone up in line with the increase. And now, 9 years after Tony Blair told us we had just 24 hours to save the NHS, what was once a beacon of excellence to the whole world is in meltdown.
"The problems in Worcestershire are not new. We have been suffering under the recent uncertainties of the potential restructuring to deal with the deficit. But now it seems that the historic £30 million of deficit (which we know about) is to be met with another £30 million deficit and despite the valiant efforts of Mike O'Rhiordan and his management team, enough is enough and cuts are now finally to be made.
"Whilst I could go on a length about the inadequacies of the Government who, whilst I am sure are well meaning, appear to be incompetent I feel that this is a time to think about the effects on those people who will directly suffer as a result of these cuts.
"I also feel for Dr Richard Taylor who I know will be desperately disappointed to learn that despite years of campaigning locally for improved health services, his efforts are in vain against Government ministers. I am afraid that what is happening again to local services in Wyre Forest and Worcestershire is directly as a result of national policy set by the government. The only way anyone can have any hope of making a difference at a local level is by influencing policy from within.
"We are yet to learn what the effect will be on Kidderminster hospital, and how this will affect the proposed restructuring across the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust. But this is, yet again, a very sorry day for Wyre Forest."