Leeds blood service cuts ‘threaten’ patient care
21st August 2009
Patient care in West Yorkshire could be under threat if plans
for swingeing cuts to the blood service in Leeds go ahead, Unite,
the largest union in the country, has warned.
Unite has asked the National Blood Service (NBS) to rescind
plans to axe 45 staff in donor testing and records in November,
with a further 40 redundancies in the blood processing unit by May
next year.
All that will remain will be a stock holding unit, which Unite
believes will be insufficient for Leeds, with the largest teaching
hospital in the country, and for the surrounding hospitals.
This will mean that emergency blood supplies will then come from
Sheffield, Manchester and Newcastle.
Terry Cunliffe, Unite’s lead officer for health in Yorkshire,
said: "At best, this will lead to a delay in the patient receiving
this life saving unit. At worst, the patient will not receive it
and they may pay with their lives.
"Simply put, an emergency product is just that. It is needed
now, not in three hours time, as the patient might not survive that
long.
"The nationwide consolidation by the NBS has already
caused problems in the Midlands and South West, where there have
been a plethora of hospital complaints about the fact that blood
requested has been unavailable.
"There have been 'patient adverse events' i.e. where blood is
unavailable for the patient who needs it. Also there have been
incidents where planned surgery has been cancelled due to the
unavailability of blood and blood products.’
Unite is concerned that these cuts to a frontline service are
planned, when administrative costs have spiralled; for example,
nationally the blood service had three directors, costing £390,000
a year in 2005 – this had now soared to more than a dozen top
executives, clocking up more than £1.5 million annually.
Unite is calling on the NBS’s director of patient services,
Clive Ronaldson, to put the Leeds cuts on hold, pending further
talks with the union.
- Earlier this year, Unite voiced concern that the NBS plans for
a consolidation of
blood services in England and Wales would cause problems relating
to increased workloads and the supply of blood which had to travel
over long distances.
ENDS
NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS:
- Donated blood has to be processed before use. Processing
entails the separation of red cells, platelets and plasma, each of
which has its own therapeutic use. This processing means that one
blood donation can treat three patients.
- Red cells are typically used to support surgery or in the
treatment of trauma. Platelets support patients through leukaemia
treatments or clotting disorders, while plasma can be used to treat
burns.
- In 2007, the National Blood Service unveiled a drastic strategy
of cutbacks and closures. After campaigns from union members in the
service, this was scaled back in January 2008, although the
Birmingham, Leeds and Tooting centres still stand to lose their
blood processing under the modified strategy.
For further information, please ring:
Terry Cunliffe 07776 202 007, Owen Granfield, Unite’s
coordinator for the national blood service 07768693942, Karen
Reay, national officer, health 07798 531 004, David Fleming,
national officer, health 07798 531013, Shaun Noble, communications
officer (health sector) 020 7420 8951 or 07768 693 940.
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