HOLMES BACKS NURSES IN FIGHTING NHS CUTS

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 28th Apr 2006

Paul Holmes, Liberal Democrat MP for Chesterfield, has joined the Royal College of Nurses in calling on the Government to keep nurses working and keep patients in Chesterfield safe.

Paul said: "The Labour Government has presided over a shambles in the NHS. It was back in October 2005 when the RCN first warned that deficits could reach £1 billion in NHS Trusts across England, with the loss of up to 3000 staff, including 1000 nurses.

"Now the King's Fund has suggested that the total deficit could be even more than £1 billion. Trusts are continuing to freeze posts and issue compulsory redundancies to nurses and other vital health care staff. Patient care is suffering with the closure of wards and delays in treatment.

"The Labour Government is guilty of gross financial mismanagement. To spend record amounts on the NHS and still have almost daily announcements of cuts in frontline services beggars belief. People in Chesterfield, and across the country, deserve better."

Paul has signed a motion in Parliament calling on the Government to stop short-term fixes through cuts and start a long-term recovery plan to give patients they standard of care they expect. He has also written to Tony Blair demanding that the Department of Health halts service cuts and redundancies, and makes patient safety its top priority.