Kevin Barron attacks Rotherham Hospital 'chaos'

KEVIN Barron says recent events suggest the people behind Rotherham Hospital’s restructure ‘do not know what they are doing.’

The Rother Valley MP spoke out during a Commons debate about NHS funding, saying residents deserved a better service for their taxes.

He cited the fact that a report given to trade unions about 750 job losses — and revealed by the Advertiser — had been contradicted by the hospital’s media team.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Barron said: “The events of the past two months suggest to me that the people in whom the Minister has faith to re-organise healthcare in Rotherham do not know what they are doing.

“They have brought in new systems and produced a report inside the hospital, which I understand was given to the trade unions.

“It ended up on the front page of a local newspaper and was countered by a press release by the hospital itself.

“Where is the debate about improving health care for my constituents and others? It is absent.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Barron said a meeting with hospital chief executive Brian James two weeks ago was cancelled after Mr James announced his retirement.

He added: “The hard reality on the ground is that no matter what we would like to happen in health care, trusts are charging into cutting budgets.

“They are cutting jobs, because that is where the major expenditure is in healthcare, and that is creating the chaos that I have described. It is not acceptable.

“My constituents pay their taxes to pay for healthcare. It does not come out of the budget down here in Westminster and they deserve better than what they are getting at the moment.”

Consultation over the proposed 750 redundancies — to save £50 million by 2015 — had been set to start on December 3 but has been postponed.