FOUNDATION TRUST COUNCIL ELECTION 2010 - VOTE FOR UNISON ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVES ONLY
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller
Comments and feedback are welcome...personal attacks and/or unsubstantiated allegations will not be printed. All comments are anonymised. Only UNISON members can make comments. These comments are then discussed by the Branch Officers and if a response is felt appropriate someone would write it.
The Trust is welcome to respond to any specfic comment or article and we would publish it.
16.7.10
Comments:
it is very interesting that the (PCT)integration is being set back further, (to all fools day), I remain unconvinced that it will happen. If the NHS is a big ship, then it takes a bit of time to make it turn, but turn it will given enough water, we must be sure we do not become that water, which once thrown away takes a long time to come back.
Comments:
it is very interesting that the (PCT)integration is being set back further, (to all fools day), I remain unconvinced that it will happen. If the NHS is a big ship, then it takes a bit of time to make it turn, but turn it will given enough water, we must be sure we do not become that water, which once thrown away takes a long time to come back.
30.10.09
Comments:
Is it not time we pulled all these cuts together and fought them collectively? currently they are culling large parts of the organisation, its easy to see how they benefit from splitting services and isolating professional groups its your (UNISONs) Job to pull it together under a single campaign.
Its death by a thousand cuts using the email and East Ones isolation to hide behindl!!!
Can we have a vote of no confidence in the Board?
Trust Staff UNISON member
Response: All the proposals you suggest should be discussed with your local reps and in Branch Meetings, if they have majority support we would represent your views to the appropriate authorities.
Comments:
Is it not time we pulled all these cuts together and fought them collectively? currently they are culling large parts of the organisation, its easy to see how they benefit from splitting services and isolating professional groups its your (UNISONs) Job to pull it together under a single campaign.
Its death by a thousand cuts using the email and East Ones isolation to hide behindl!!!
Can we have a vote of no confidence in the Board?
Trust Staff UNISON member
Response: All the proposals you suggest should be discussed with your local reps and in Branch Meetings, if they have majority support we would represent your views to the appropriate authorities.
22.12.09
Comments:
I would just like to record my heartfelt thanks to three people in particular - Sandra Payne, Ruth Benbow and George Paton. Between the three of them, they have got me through an awful lot of stress over the past couple of years. For the first time in approximately 3 years, I am now really happy in my job and with my Managers. When all is said and done I really do not feel that I could have got through all this without the help of Unison, so once again, my heartfelt thanks to Sandra, Ruth and George
Comments:
I would just like to record my heartfelt thanks to three people in particular - Sandra Payne, Ruth Benbow and George Paton. Between the three of them, they have got me through an awful lot of stress over the past couple of years. For the first time in approximately 3 years, I am now really happy in my job and with my Managers. When all is said and done I really do not feel that I could have got through all this without the help of Unison, so once again, my heartfelt thanks to Sandra, Ruth and George
5.10.09
.Comments: Great site , time we fought back!!
Trust Staff UNISON Member
6.10.09
Comments: can i be first to say that any notions about withdrawing from the agreed, 3 year pay review body recommendation which was narrowly agreed by UNISON health conference in 2007, should be firmly rejected. At the time the deal looked poor. Since the financial crash, it still looks poor.
Trust Staff UNISON Member
7.10.09
Comments: Why do i feel so isolated with all the restructuring that is taking place?, surely i am not the only one that is up in arms around the major impact that restructuring will have on my current role. I am hearing absolutely nothing from other Unison members or Reps regarding the changes, all im hearing is what is being drip fed to me from management. Someone please tell me i am not alone
Trust Staff UNISON member
16.10.09
Comments: Heard on the wireless, (R4 20.00 hrs. Tues. 13th.) that some public sector bodies are top heavy with highly paid staff.
So grateful that were not in that situation.
Trust Staff UNISON member
17.10.09
Comments: The CQC results are surprising because they rate the Trust higher than I or my colleagues would, with less than 45% of patients saying they feel safe on wards and we are cutting back nurses on those wards why are people not being held to account? If these people cannot run a safe service they should not be allowed to run any service.Its disgraceful.
Trust Staff UNISON member
21.10.09
Comments: Just to say well done! the new website is very informative, very interesting and very exciting. I love it I love it, I love it..!
Trust Staff UNISON member
23.10.09
Comments: Isn't the outsourcing of Estates, a form of allowing the private sector another claw under the roof ?
Why are we selling off bits of the service as the motive is profit on the part of the companies lining up for a bit of the action?
If we allow ourselves to be suckered into accepting that the NHS and other public bodies are somehow wasting resources, we risk being locked into very low wages for at least another generation.
Trust Staff UNISON member.
.Comments: Great site , time we fought back!!
Trust Staff UNISON Member
6.10.09
Comments: can i be first to say that any notions about withdrawing from the agreed, 3 year pay review body recommendation which was narrowly agreed by UNISON health conference in 2007, should be firmly rejected. At the time the deal looked poor. Since the financial crash, it still looks poor.
Trust Staff UNISON Member
7.10.09
Comments: Why do i feel so isolated with all the restructuring that is taking place?, surely i am not the only one that is up in arms around the major impact that restructuring will have on my current role. I am hearing absolutely nothing from other Unison members or Reps regarding the changes, all im hearing is what is being drip fed to me from management. Someone please tell me i am not alone
Trust Staff UNISON member
16.10.09
Comments: Heard on the wireless, (R4 20.00 hrs. Tues. 13th.) that some public sector bodies are top heavy with highly paid staff.
So grateful that were not in that situation.
Trust Staff UNISON member
17.10.09
Comments: The CQC results are surprising because they rate the Trust higher than I or my colleagues would, with less than 45% of patients saying they feel safe on wards and we are cutting back nurses on those wards why are people not being held to account? If these people cannot run a safe service they should not be allowed to run any service.Its disgraceful.
Trust Staff UNISON member
21.10.09
Comments: Just to say well done! the new website is very informative, very interesting and very exciting. I love it I love it, I love it..!
Trust Staff UNISON member
23.10.09
Comments: Isn't the outsourcing of Estates, a form of allowing the private sector another claw under the roof ?
Why are we selling off bits of the service as the motive is profit on the part of the companies lining up for a bit of the action?
If we allow ourselves to be suckered into accepting that the NHS and other public bodies are somehow wasting resources, we risk being locked into very low wages for at least another generation.
Trust Staff UNISON member.
24.1.10
Comments
Comments: So when are they going to start talking about cuts and savings? Its clear even to Cameron who wants to scrap all administrators(whoever they are??)
The E1 lot have made rather a mess of the Organisation when it was rolling in cash, how on earth can the exec team get us through diffcult times??? Admin review - corporate wilful destruction of a good service and now they are the most demoralised and disilusioned staff, and they did'nt even make any savings in the process, haha, if is was'nt so hurtful for the staff affected it would be laughable.
Well if the tories win hopefully they can sack the lot of them at East One and leave us to get on with the job focusing on patient need, not rampant bureaucracy.
How many people work in E1 now and will UNISON stop the golden handshakes?
RESPONSE: Its clear that there are challenging times ahead for health services, the unusual nature of the political situation and the lack of any straight talking makes UNISONs position unclear at this time.
UNISONs strenth is in the collective response which nationally and locally would need to be co-ordinated
Comments
Comments: So when are they going to start talking about cuts and savings? Its clear even to Cameron who wants to scrap all administrators(whoever they are??)
The E1 lot have made rather a mess of the Organisation when it was rolling in cash, how on earth can the exec team get us through diffcult times??? Admin review - corporate wilful destruction of a good service and now they are the most demoralised and disilusioned staff, and they did'nt even make any savings in the process, haha, if is was'nt so hurtful for the staff affected it would be laughable.
Well if the tories win hopefully they can sack the lot of them at East One and leave us to get on with the job focusing on patient need, not rampant bureaucracy.
How many people work in E1 now and will UNISON stop the golden handshakes?
RESPONSE: Its clear that there are challenging times ahead for health services, the unusual nature of the political situation and the lack of any straight talking makes UNISONs position unclear at this time.
UNISONs strenth is in the collective response which nationally and locally would need to be co-ordinated
25.1.10
Comments: Why are we buying new computors that cannot be connected to our printers!!! Now we have to replace perfectly good equipment for no rational reason... its it just me or is the place completely unravelling? This is £000s of public money being wasted.
Comments: Why are we buying new computors that cannot be connected to our printers!!! Now we have to replace perfectly good equipment for no rational reason... its it just me or is the place completely unravelling? This is £000s of public money being wasted.
22.2.10
Comments: Hey, just want to say hi. I'm new here.
Reply: you are very welcome.....
Comments: Hey, just want to say hi. I'm new here.
Reply: you are very welcome.....
27.2.10
Comments:
Caroline Bedale vs UNISON
Given the number of 'left wing' activists who have felt the full force of UNISONS disciplinary procedures in the recent past, will any of the people identified as having broken UNISON Rules by an independent review be subject to disciplinary action or is this process reserved for left wing activists only?
Trust Staff UNISON member
Reply: We would expect the National Officers to be investigatigating these matters in response to the verdict.
Comments:
Caroline Bedale vs UNISON
Given the number of 'left wing' activists who have felt the full force of UNISONS disciplinary procedures in the recent past, will any of the people identified as having broken UNISON Rules by an independent review be subject to disciplinary action or is this process reserved for left wing activists only?
Trust Staff UNISON member
Reply: We would expect the National Officers to be investigatigating these matters in response to the verdict.
30.11.09
Comments: Very interesting article on R4 this morning about the above inflation pay rises for trust directors and non-executive directors. Their pay uplift is way above current rates of pay that staff under A4C are getting. I wonder why there is disparity?
Trust Staff UNISON member
Comments: Very interesting article on R4 this morning about the above inflation pay rises for trust directors and non-executive directors. Their pay uplift is way above current rates of pay that staff under A4C are getting. I wonder why there is disparity?
Trust Staff UNISON member
29.11.09
Comments: The press coverage of the veracity of the CQC results make very interesting reading. It would appear that a tick box approach to doing things is not working.
Whilst it should be no surprise for staff on the ground to learn that this is the case, as our daily experiences illustrate, the penny has yet to drop elsewhere.
Those who occupy the rarified heights of E1, have yet appreciate the amount of dissatisfaction that is being generated amongst the rest of the workforce.
The disquiet which ill thought through approaches to managing staff, and those being affected by their decisions is rippling through the organisation, and is eroding the foundations of what many staff believe to be, the core values of the NHS.
Trust Staff UNISON MEMBER
Comments: The press coverage of the veracity of the CQC results make very interesting reading. It would appear that a tick box approach to doing things is not working.
Whilst it should be no surprise for staff on the ground to learn that this is the case, as our daily experiences illustrate, the penny has yet to drop elsewhere.
Those who occupy the rarified heights of E1, have yet appreciate the amount of dissatisfaction that is being generated amongst the rest of the workforce.
The disquiet which ill thought through approaches to managing staff, and those being affected by their decisions is rippling through the organisation, and is eroding the foundations of what many staff believe to be, the core values of the NHS.
Trust Staff UNISON MEMBER
27.11.09
Comments: Having read about the shocking abuse of migrant workers, featured on the home page. It beggers belief that the trust is embarking upon privatising the estates and facilities services in the forensic unit. What guarantees can be given to staff that, if the privatisiation went ahead, that such abuses would not be repeated by any private company that were to take over the running of estates and facilities? Also, what assurances can the trust give that the staff will be adequately trained to be able to work safely in a forensic environment?
The whole issue of inviting tenders from private companies, is to reduce costs. How do private companies achieve this and make a profit?
They do it by screwing their workforce by cutting wages, cutting corners, and diminishing the terms and conditions of their staff.
NHS staff are motivated by a public service ethos, private companies are motivated by turning a profit.
Comments: Having read about the shocking abuse of migrant workers, featured on the home page. It beggers belief that the trust is embarking upon privatising the estates and facilities services in the forensic unit. What guarantees can be given to staff that, if the privatisiation went ahead, that such abuses would not be repeated by any private company that were to take over the running of estates and facilities? Also, what assurances can the trust give that the staff will be adequately trained to be able to work safely in a forensic environment?
The whole issue of inviting tenders from private companies, is to reduce costs. How do private companies achieve this and make a profit?
They do it by screwing their workforce by cutting wages, cutting corners, and diminishing the terms and conditions of their staff.
NHS staff are motivated by a public service ethos, private companies are motivated by turning a profit.
26.11.09
Comments: the foundation trust have still not responded to the claim that they breach European Working Time Directives, where Duty Senior Nurses, (DSN's), are expected to work without official breaks. The DSN role is probably the most difficult activity, both mentally and physically, that nursing staff are expected to do. After office hours, DSN's , are having to do bed management as well as deal with the myriad other issues which may occur. Could this issue be responded to by the trust, as a failure to address this, will impede efforts by all staff to overcome the current crisis in managing services
Trust Staff UNISON Member
Comments: the foundation trust have still not responded to the claim that they breach European Working Time Directives, where Duty Senior Nurses, (DSN's), are expected to work without official breaks. The DSN role is probably the most difficult activity, both mentally and physically, that nursing staff are expected to do. After office hours, DSN's , are having to do bed management as well as deal with the myriad other issues which may occur. Could this issue be responded to by the trust, as a failure to address this, will impede efforts by all staff to overcome the current crisis in managing services
Trust Staff UNISON Member
22.11.09
Comments: Ok, so staffing levels have returned to normal, Dr Dolan, Dean Henderson and Theresa Kellegher-Guthrie attended a meeting in East Wing last week, following the serious assualt on a member of staff, now what?
Teams of staff throughout East Wing and the rest of the Trust must stick together and speak collectively. This culture of fear has to stop now and the only way WE can stop it is by speaking out together, sharing concerns in weekly team meetings, ensuring these are documented and disseminated to Senior Management.
We are front-line staff working on the ward (often in the firing-line when things go wrong) and know what is and isn't working. Talk amongst yourselves, to your managers, talk to your union reps and let us change this culture of fear together.
Trust Staff UNISON member
Comments: Ok, so staffing levels have returned to normal, Dr Dolan, Dean Henderson and Theresa Kellegher-Guthrie attended a meeting in East Wing last week, following the serious assualt on a member of staff, now what?
Teams of staff throughout East Wing and the rest of the Trust must stick together and speak collectively. This culture of fear has to stop now and the only way WE can stop it is by speaking out together, sharing concerns in weekly team meetings, ensuring these are documented and disseminated to Senior Management.
We are front-line staff working on the ward (often in the firing-line when things go wrong) and know what is and isn't working. Talk amongst yourselves, to your managers, talk to your union reps and let us change this culture of fear together.
Trust Staff UNISON member
19.11.09
Comments: how come Scotland has a law where an assault on any Emergency Worker means that the person is automatically charged with having committed a offense.
Isn't it about time, that think we about this here?
Trust Staff UNISON Member
19.11.09
Comments: The meeting at east wing earlier today was very disappointing.
Dr. Dolan failed to convince a lot of people that anything will change any time soon. Responses by him were as slick as anything, but failed to answer the serious questions which were put to the him. I would liked to have asked why he was unaware that east wing had not a pin-point alarm system, when this had been flagged-up over 2 years ago.
We appear to live in a culture where staff are scared to speak their mind.
Why has this culture developed, and given where we are, in respect of the financial mess the country is in, where will it end?
Trust Staff UNISON member
24.10.09
Comments: This site is fantastic but needs more promotion please!!
Everyone should have a voice, without fear of recrimination and our Head Office hierarchy should know exactly what is going on in our hugely under-staffed and under-resourced wards.
Why not make cuts elsewhere i.e. middle and senior management, posts at head office and the new daft jobs invented just to tick boxes?
Why does it always have to be front-line staff and in-patients that suffer because it is the patients who suffer when they have minimal staffing levels.
There's no time to provide the real and meaningful 1:1's (much needed by patients and expected by management), to make them them the 24/7 drinks and refreshments they're entitled to, to take them out for walks, escort them to the local shops to buy essentials, take them out for a cigarette or even just to listen when they're distressed. Head Office Seniors need to come and work on our wards for a few days and get a real understanding of how hard 'most' staff work, particularly under such stressful conditions; distressed, angry, confused, unwell patients who abuse staff both verbally and physically because their (understandable) needs are not met as promptly as necessary.
Does this Trust care at all about its patients or its staff?
Trust Staff UNISON member
Comments: how come Scotland has a law where an assault on any Emergency Worker means that the person is automatically charged with having committed a offense.
Isn't it about time, that think we about this here?
Trust Staff UNISON Member
19.11.09
Comments: The meeting at east wing earlier today was very disappointing.
Dr. Dolan failed to convince a lot of people that anything will change any time soon. Responses by him were as slick as anything, but failed to answer the serious questions which were put to the him. I would liked to have asked why he was unaware that east wing had not a pin-point alarm system, when this had been flagged-up over 2 years ago.
We appear to live in a culture where staff are scared to speak their mind.
Why has this culture developed, and given where we are, in respect of the financial mess the country is in, where will it end?
Trust Staff UNISON member
24.10.09
Comments: This site is fantastic but needs more promotion please!!
Everyone should have a voice, without fear of recrimination and our Head Office hierarchy should know exactly what is going on in our hugely under-staffed and under-resourced wards.
Why not make cuts elsewhere i.e. middle and senior management, posts at head office and the new daft jobs invented just to tick boxes?
Why does it always have to be front-line staff and in-patients that suffer because it is the patients who suffer when they have minimal staffing levels.
There's no time to provide the real and meaningful 1:1's (much needed by patients and expected by management), to make them them the 24/7 drinks and refreshments they're entitled to, to take them out for walks, escort them to the local shops to buy essentials, take them out for a cigarette or even just to listen when they're distressed. Head Office Seniors need to come and work on our wards for a few days and get a real understanding of how hard 'most' staff work, particularly under such stressful conditions; distressed, angry, confused, unwell patients who abuse staff both verbally and physically because their (understandable) needs are not met as promptly as necessary.
Does this Trust care at all about its patients or its staff?
Trust Staff UNISON member