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Department of Health

Such job losses make it a difficult time for the NHS. The other Rotherham Members and I have been lobbied about that. The front page of the local weekly paper says that student nurses who are on secondment doing their practical work in Rotherham general hospital have been told that there are not necessarily jobs for them in the local foundation trust. The trust has had to take some tough decisions to avoid going into deficit this year. It has asked people to work differently and has left vacancies unfilled. Last week, I received a letter from the chief executive of the Rotherham NHS foundation trusts who said:"““To achieve the efficiencies necessary whilst maintaining existing levels of patient service we need to restructure””." The letter gives a very honest answer about those student nurses, saying:"““the Trust cannot guarantee a job on completion of training to any student it takes on placement, but we do make students aware of vacancies for which they are eligible to apply.””" I entirely agree with the chief executive. We must decide what the NHS is for: is it there to treat patients who are in need of it or as some sort of social employment that will employ people come what may? In those circumstances, like the rest of the public sector that has had to take such decisions occasionally, it is wholly right that my local NHS trust should not guarantee people jobs, as much as that is not liked by people. Its primary aim is to look after the patients who go to that hospital now and in the years to come. I hope that those students nurses will get work, but there should be no guarantee that that will come before the interests of looking after patients.