Teh One Who Knocks
09-17-2015, 11:11 AM
By Jake Burman - The Express
http://i.imgur.com/46fTqlG.jpg
The shocking cuts emerged after a stunned visitor requested ice for a woman with with cancer - who found it easier to swallow tablets with cold water.
Staff at Addenbrooke's Hospital - which recently announced the resignations of its chief executive and finance officer - told Michelle Lewis she could not have any ice.
Ms Lewis said she was "horrified and gobsmacked" when the two healthcare workers and a catering member of staff staid that ice had been removed from jugs because of "budget cuts".
A spokesman for the hospital said: "Wards need to call patient catering and it is issued on a bag-by-bag basis.
"We are looking at how we save money across the trust. Currently £39,000 [per year] is spent on ice in water."
Chief executive of the trust Dr Keith McNeil resigned this week, claiming the hospital currently faces "serious challenges" - with reports it will be run at a massive deficit of £1.2million a week.
Struggling NHS hospitals are coming under increasing financial pressure.
This month it emerged that the health service will send British patients to France for surgery – in a move that was slammed by critics as an "admission of failure".
A Calais hospital will offer a range of medical procedures for UK patients who choose to go there.
It is the first time the NHS has paid for treatment abroad.
Critics blasted the move as "barking" claiming that the health service has accepted failure, while it is unclear how check-ups will be completed and how the hospital will access NHS records.
Simon Bolton, an official from the union Unison, said: "It's barking. What happens if something goes wrong? Does the NHS pick the bill up? And Who will provide the after care?"
http://i.imgur.com/46fTqlG.jpg
The shocking cuts emerged after a stunned visitor requested ice for a woman with with cancer - who found it easier to swallow tablets with cold water.
Staff at Addenbrooke's Hospital - which recently announced the resignations of its chief executive and finance officer - told Michelle Lewis she could not have any ice.
Ms Lewis said she was "horrified and gobsmacked" when the two healthcare workers and a catering member of staff staid that ice had been removed from jugs because of "budget cuts".
A spokesman for the hospital said: "Wards need to call patient catering and it is issued on a bag-by-bag basis.
"We are looking at how we save money across the trust. Currently £39,000 [per year] is spent on ice in water."
Chief executive of the trust Dr Keith McNeil resigned this week, claiming the hospital currently faces "serious challenges" - with reports it will be run at a massive deficit of £1.2million a week.
Struggling NHS hospitals are coming under increasing financial pressure.
This month it emerged that the health service will send British patients to France for surgery – in a move that was slammed by critics as an "admission of failure".
A Calais hospital will offer a range of medical procedures for UK patients who choose to go there.
It is the first time the NHS has paid for treatment abroad.
Critics blasted the move as "barking" claiming that the health service has accepted failure, while it is unclear how check-ups will be completed and how the hospital will access NHS records.
Simon Bolton, an official from the union Unison, said: "It's barking. What happens if something goes wrong? Does the NHS pick the bill up? And Who will provide the after care?"