Budget cuts to hit Filipino nurses at London hospital

LONDON - Dozens of Filipino nurses are among hundreds of people protesting against budget cuts at the largest health trust in the UK, amid plans to cut salaries and revise local services affecting six hospitals in east London.

Nurses and other workers from Whipps Cross University Hospital took to the streets last week with banners, chants and impassioned speeches, gathering outside the hospital near Leytonstone and marching towards Walthamstow Central at mid-afternoon on Saturday.

Protestors are concerned over budget cuts which include plans to move services to different locations, as well as debanding nursing staff - effectively changing job titles and reducing salaries.

?They want to reduce our pay but expect us to do the same work load,? said Roderick Villarico, a senior nurse at the Accident & Emergency (A&E) unit.

The 41-year-old from Baguio, who has been with Whipps Cross for 11 years, told ABS-CBN Europe: ?[The nurses] feel like all of our hard work and experiences from all these years have been thrown out of the window. They don?t matter anymore. It?s like we?ve just graduated from college without any experience.?

Whipps Cross is part of Barts Health NHS Trust, the largest government health trust in the UK since 2012 following a merger between local hospitals in east London, which now includes Mile End Hospital, Newham University Hospital, The London Chest Hospital, The Royal London Hospital and St Bartholomew?s Hospital.

Barts Health is on a mission to save ?77.5 million this year, which it said will be done ?across the board? and with plans that ?will not affect clinical safety or the quality of care? for patients. But according to Villarico, the Trust?s strategy to pinch nursing staff salaries is ?unfair? and ?disrespectful? after years of loyal service and valuable contributions, many of them claiming to have worked for the hospital for over a decade.

?The truth is we give so much to this hospital. We do several jobs in one: we are nurses, porters, cleaners, and whatever else that needs doing. That?s why we?re so bitter about what they plan to do to us,? he said.

For Marvin Escueta, another senior nurse at Whipps Cross, cutting nursing staff or reducing their salary will have a far reaching effect on several other people, not only within the UK but as far away as the Philippines.

?We will struggle even more. We will provide even less for our families, especially our children. And we don?t just have expenses here in London, we also send money back home to our relatives in the Philippines who rely on us.? he explained.

Escueta believes that debanding nurses could reduce their monthly income by approximately ?500, or P35,000, citing an example from Band 6 down to Band 5.

The 38-year-old from Manila added: ?Everyone will be affected, even our friends here and the local community. This will reduce patient care. We wanted to be nurses to look after people, but if we don?t have jobs or rights to decent pay, then what is the point??

The so-called cost-efficiency measures at Barts Health hospitals is part of a wider strategy within the British National Health Service (NHS) to cut costs and save money.

In a statement to ABS-CBN Europe, Barts Health said it needs to ?play its part? in the NHS effort to save ?20 billion by 2014/15 while ?improving the quality and delivery of care.?

They also wish to reassure the public that they have ?no plans? to close Whipps Cross nor remove any services. They did, however, admit that the ?location of certain services may change? to ?remove areas of waste and duplication.?

On the planned pay cuts, they said: ?We want to ensure that nursing staff across all sites are paid the appropriate rate for the job they perform. Where an individual?s band is reduced, because this is appropriate to the role they perform or as an alternative to redundancy, they will have their pay protected, allowing them time to seek another role at their original banding and avoid a financial detriment. We are also putting in place a team to work proactively with affected individuals and their line managers to enable them to return to their original banding as soon as possible.?

Exact plans for Whipps Cross are still being reviewed but Barts Health said it ?would hope to keep any compulsory redundancies to a minimum.? It is also unclear at this stage which services and units will be affected.

Barts Health caters for 2.5 million people in east London and beyond, served by 15,000 workers, making it the largest NHS Trust in the country with an annual turnover of ?1.25 billion.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/09/24/13/budget-cuts-hit-fiipino-nurses-london-hospital

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