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Hospital staff 'kicked in the teeth' by £75k director's post
FRONTLINE staff at a South Yorkshire hospital say they feel like they've been "kicked in the teeth" by the creation of a new £75,000 director's post while they struggle with staff shortages and working longer hours.
Nurses and healthcare assistants at Barnsley Hospital are threatening to end "good will" in relation to covering shifts and working overtime after a new position of director of quality standards was created.
Sharon Linter had been covering both the position of director of quality standards and the chief nurse job since last January in place of Juliette Greenwood, who was involved in a car accident.
The hospital decided to split the role into two full-time positions when Mrs Greenwood returned to work last month - with Ms Linter appointed in the band nine director of quality standards position which has a salary of at least 75,000.
An internal e-mail sent to all staff said it was necessary because of the "sheer scale of work required".
But Tony Wright, branch secretary for Barnsley Health Unison, said staff at the hospital felt "disillusioned" by the appointment - particularly when frontline workers are feeling the pressures of resource shortages.
The trust denied there is a recruitment freeze in place, and said it has the highest ratio of clinical to non-clinical staff out of all the hospitals in the region .
But Mr Wright said: "It wasn't just nurses who were disillusioned by the creation of the new post - there is a general bad feeling around the hospital about this matter. Whether management admit it or not, there is definitely some kind of jobs freeze in place. You could walk on to any ward on the site and ask and the people doing the job will tell you how short staffed they are."
A Barnsley Hospital NHS Trust spokesman said the move was part of their "continuing drive to improve quality of services, patient care and patient experience".
He added: "The hospital hasthis yearrobustly scrutinised all vacant posts on a case-by-case basis, but at all times patient care and treatment is our highest consideration.
"Barnsley has the highest ratio of clinical to non-clinical staff among all hospitals in the region."
The issue will be high on the agenda at the Unison annual meeting on February 15 at the Trades Club in Racecommon Road, Barnsley, 7pm-9pm.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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