LONDON (Reuters), Apr 16 - More than 22,300 NHS posts have been lost in the past 18 months because of cut-backs implemented as a result of the government's insistence on trusts balancing their books, a Royal College of Nursing report said on Sunday.
Most of the cuts have hit specialist services, the report "Our NHS -- Today and Tomorrow" said.
RCN General Secretary Peter Carter said on Sunday that unless the government addressed the situation immediately, the actions taken last year would continue to hit patient care and destabilize the NHS for the foreseeable future.
"Our NHS remains caught up in a rip-tide of cuts, rushed reforms, and poor workforce planning," he said.
"This is hitting services, hurting patients, undermining staff morale, and threatening the hard-won progress made over recent years," he told the RCN annual conference.
Most of the jobs have gone through a combination of compulsory and voluntary redundancies, deleted vacant posts, and recruitment freezes.
Specialist nurses have seen their posts downgraded, while public health and training budgets are being used to plug deficits elsewhere in the system, the RCN said. Qualified nurses have been left struggling to find jobs, it added.
Patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and epilepsy have seen a shortage of specialist nurses, as have those in rehabilitation and intermediate care services, mental health in-patient departments, and day care services.
The RCN said waiting lists and waiting times had suffered, with waits of up to nine months for some diagnostic and specialist services.
Closure programs for community hospitals in rural communities have been extended. Bereavement and end-of-life services for children and families have been reduced.
The report calls for the government to enter talks with frontline staff and give trusts more time and flexibility to achieve financial balance.
It also calls for a move away from a culture of imposing redundancies.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told the BBC that during the next few weeks "we will be putting in place the main building blocks of a reform program" that will lead to a health service which is "stronger, better, more built around the patient."
Last Updated: 2007-04-16 12:41:52 -0400 (Reuters Health)
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