Hospitals merge spells better efficiency, says boss
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn and the James Paget University Hospital (JPH) in Gorleston operate under their own names but are now collectively called the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group.
The three hospital trusts are forecasting a £53m gap in their finances by 2029/30.
On her first day as chief executive of the group, Prof Lesley Dwyer said it was not about the money, but about working together more efficiently.
"The job is getting to understand what is important to those local hospitals and their population," Prof Dwyer said.
"The prime reason for coming together under the group formation was actually not about the money.
"It was very much about closer working together, and doing those things that matter such as tackling waiting lists, making sure people are treated quickly in an emergency - making sure though, that we do get better value for the money that we are given."
The NHS hopes the new hospitals group will save money and improve services [Getty Images]
While each of the three hospitals will still have a managing director, Prof Dwyer said the "group structure is very much about trying to find those things that we can do at scale - things that we know perhaps are duplicated - but also making sure that we make some of those bigger decisions that despite our best intentions, perhaps over the last few years... that we just haven't done".
But she said it was "very much about making sure that we don't take away the identity of the things that really matter to those local hospitals".
Asked about lengthy waiting lists, Prof Dwyer said: "Currently we do have people who actually leave Norfolk to go and get treatment because we're not able to treat them.
"We're hoping by using the capacity of the three - particularly around elective waiting lists - will mean that the travel people have will actually be within the county.
"It's certainly our intention to use the capacity we have in the three hospitals, that we really do address those long waits."
The NNUH is Norfolk's largest hospital [PA Media]
Peter Passingham, the Eastern regional organiser for the union, Unison, said the merger was causing "a lot of uncertainty among staff".
Asked what the point of the merger was, he said: "Well, I think it's the aspiration.
"We know that the NHS is struggling at the moment... and I think it is the hope to do something which is going to improve the situation, as opposed to something that may actually bring real changes."
Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Related internet links
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
This Handwriting Change May Be An Early Sign Of Parkinson's
Parkinson's disease, the condition Ozzy Osborne was diagnosed with roughly five years before his death, affects about 153,000 people in the UK at the moment. It is a progressive neurological disease. While there is no single, outright cure for it yet, the NHS says therapies like medication and physiotherapy can minimise its symptoms for many. But sadly, the condition is often misdiagnosed, even though early diagnosis can be very beneficial. That's why organisations like Parkinson's UK champion better, earlier diagnoses, and hope one day for a single test that can accurately spot the disease as soon as possible. In the meantime, however, they've shared early signs of the condition; one of which involves changes to your handwriting. How is handwriting linked to Parkinson's? Parkinson's UK says that noticing smaller handwriting over time is one potential early sign. This is called micrographia, and could affect as many as 50-60% of people living with Parkinson's, though the numbers are not settled. 'You may notice the way you write words on a page has changed, such as letter sizes are smaller and the words are crowded together,' the charity shared. A 2022 paper suggested that the handwriting change may precede other motor symptoms of Parkinson's, like tremors. Parkinson's is not the only cause of handwriting changes – it's been linked to other neurological changes, while Parkinson's UK says 'writing can change as you get older, if you have stiff hands or fingers or poor vision' – but it may be worth seeing your doctor about it, especially if it comes with other symptoms. What are the other early symptoms of Parkinson's? According to Parkinson's UK, having a single early symptom doesn't mean you've got the disorder. But 'if you have more than one sign, you should consider making an appointment to talk to your doctor,' they wrote. Aside from micographia, the other possible symptoms they listed were: Tremors. Shaking in your finger, thumb, hand, or chin while at rest is a common early symptom. Loss of smell, especially for strongly-scented foods like bananas, liquorice, and gherkins. Moving a lot in your sleep, especially if you start acting out your dreams or thrashing around a lot. Trouble with movement or walking. You might find your arms don't swing as much as they used to when you walk, that your limbs or stiff, that your shoulders of hips feel tight, or that your feet feel 'stuck to the floor.' Constipation. This can be normal, but it can persist with Parkinson's. Developing a soft, low voice that others might describe as hoarse or breathy and which might sound quieter than usual. 'Facial masking,′ or a sad or angry expression on your face that happens regardless of your mood. Dizziness or fainting, for instance, when getting up out of a chair – this can be linked to low blood pressure, which is associated with Parkinson's. Stooping or hunching over, especially if this is new for you. Related... 'Super Smeller' Inspires Test To Spot Parkinson's 7 Years Before Diagnosis Gut Health Discovery Could Help Future Parkinson's Diagnoses Parkinson's Cases Are Set To Double By 2050. Here Are 5 Early Signs To Watch For
Miami Herald
4 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Resident doctors in England's National Health Service go on strike
July 25 (UPI) -- Thousands of National Health Service resident doctors in England walked out Friday at the start of a five-day strike in a dispute with the government over pay. The British Medical Association, the doctors' union, said in a post on X that the strike could have been avoided if Health Secretary Wes Streeting had put forward a "credible offer" to address a one-fifth real-terms drop in their pay since 2008. The 190,000-member union pointed to the inequity that after seven years of study and training, doctors in their first year as a fully qualified resident were paid more than $7 an hour less than a physician assistant in their first year. "This is why resident doctors in England are taking a stand against the government -- it's time to pay us what we're worth," said the BMA, adding that it was seeking a raise of just $5.39 a hour to $30.45. The union called on doctors to join picket lines outside designated large hospitals in London and seven other regions of England as the strike got underway at 7 a.m. local time, three days after negotiations with the government collapsed. Streeting and Prime Minister Keir Starmer appealed to the doctors not to take industrial action due to the damage it would inflict on the NHS, which the Labour government had been working hard to rebuild since coming into office in summer 2024. In a video posted on X, Streeting warned that striking doctors would make the working conditions of their colleagues who remained at their posts much more difficult, expressing "incredible frustration" over the action despite significant pay hikes over the past year. "These strikes were unnecessary because resident doctors have already had a 28.9% pay increase since this government came to office. They've had the highest pay increase of the entire public sector two years in a row," said Streeting. He said the action was also unnecessary as he had been asking for the union to postpone for just three weeks to allow time to put together a package that would have made "a real difference to resident doctors' working lives" by addressing training costs and other associated costs, as well as career progression issues. Streeting vowed the impact on patients would be kept to a minimum, with NHS leaders ordering hospitals not to cancel non-emergency appointments and surgeries, with senior doctors stepping in to cover for their striking colleagues. "Resident doctors should break ranks with the BMA leadership. The industrial action that starts on Friday is in no one's interests and medics should not follow their union down its dangerous and destructive route, Starmer wrote in The Times. The NHS leaders' organization, the NHS Confederation, laid blame for "the impact of strikes and the distress they will cause patients" squarely at the feet of the BMA. However, the Conservative opposition's shadow health secretary, Stuart Andrew, said it was the government's fault and that it had put patients in danger. "Labour's capitulation to union demands has fuelled this chaos. The real tragedy is not just the political cowardice that invited this chaos but the disruption of care patients face. It's a threat to lives," he wrote on social media. The industrial action, the 12th round of strikes, is part of a long-running dispute over pay dating back to 2023 with doctors in the early years of their careers claiming inflation over the past 17 years has eroded away their pay, leaving them 20% worse off. Inheriting the dispute from the previous Conservative government in July 2024, Labour gave doctors an immediate 22% raise, followed by an average of 5.4% for this year. NHS doctors' base salary is relatively low to start but rapidly rises to more than $100,000 a year, and can go much higher. "Resident doctors are not worth less than they were 17 years ago. Restoring pay remains the simplest and most effective route toward improving our working lives," BMA resident doctor co-leaders Dr. Melissa Ryan and Dr. Ross Nieuwoudt told the BBC. "Mr. Streeting had every opportunity to prevent this strike going ahead, but he chose not to take it." Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Phone notes made by trans doctor after nurse dispute were edited, tribunal told
Phone notes made by a transgender doctor following a dispute with a nurse had been edited, a tribunal has heard. An employment tribunal was told on Friday that NHS Fife did not commission a forensic or in-person examination of Dr Beth Upton's phone in May 2025. The health board's security analyst 'did not have a technical answer' for discrepancies on dates on Google Notes made by Dr Upton, the tribunal heard. Sandie Peggie was suspended after she complained about having to share a changing room with Dr Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Eve 2023. The nurse was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment and cited concerns about 'patient care'. Ms Peggie has lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment; harassment related to a protected belief; indirect discrimination; and victimisation. The tribunal heard entries on Google Notes had 'discrepancies' between the date of editing and date of creation. Independent IT expert Jim Borwick, director of KJB Computer Forensics Consultancy, was commissioned by Ms Peggie's representatives and agreed he was suggesting the doctor 'was trying to mislead' the tribunal. In a report, Mr Borwick wrote 'Dr Upton is silent on fact that Notes can be rearranged with relative ease', and that he was 'perplexed' and 'at a loss' as to how the discrepancies had occurred, and was told 'notes did not include patient care allegations Dr Upton made about Ms Peggie', the tribunal heard. One note from December 18, 2023 logged 'working nights, won't make eye contact, won't acknowledge my presence, haven't had direct conversation but can feel the dismissal/hostility', which was edited on December 26 at 1.21am, the tribunal heard. Mr Borwick said: 'In addition to text on that date, this had been added so it is not contemporaneous.' He confirmed he was 'suggesting that Dr Upton is trying to mislead the tribunal', when asked by Jane Russell KC, representing NHS Fife and Dr Upton. Ms Russell said: 'When you said Dr Upton is silent on fact that notes can be rearranged, you're suggesting that Dr Upton is trying to mislead the tribunal?' The IT expert said: 'I suppose that's my comment, yes.' Ms Russell asked if he had been instructed 'to come up with explanation that there were lies on the part of Dr Upton' and to 'undermine Dr Upton's account of patient care allegations'? The witness said: 'I don't think we were trying to undermine anything, it was just a case of trying to look at these notes.' He added: 'I was told to recover notes about patient care allegations; no reason was given, just to recover those notes.' He suggested a Teams meeting should have been recorded, and that screenshots could have been 'superimposed' on notes. Ms Russell said in one screenshot 'the conundrum is that the edited date predates the created date', and asked if 'the only explanation for discrepancy is that Dr Upton is lying about creation dates'. The witness said: 'I can't recreate this, Mr Donaldson [Peter Donaldson, information security manager for NHS Fife] can't; this can't happen. It just can't happen that way.' However, Ms Peggie's junior counsel, Charlotte Elves, said she was 'astonished' at a suggestion that anyone 'would have instructed an expert to lie, or that an expert would accept such instructions'. The tribunal heard a note titled 'weird incident 26.08.23' was timestamped showing it was created on October 26, 2023, according to Google. The tribunal also heard evidence that Dr Upton was remotely supervised at one point during a Teams call by Mr Donaldson. Giving evidence, Mr Donaldson said: 'I don't believe Dr Upton was trying to mislead us in any way. 'I completely agree this is how Google presents; on the face of it the October date is the earliest date. I don't dispute that. The notes supplementary to that are the same.' Ms Elves said: 'This quandary that we've got about creation on October 26, as I understand it, there's no understandable technical explanation?' Mr Donaldson said: 'Not that I'm aware of.' Ms Elves said: 'You say you don't believe Dr Upton was trying to mislead the tribunal but presumably accept that is one explanation for this inexplicable phenomenon?' The witness said: 'It is a possibility but I don't believe that's the case.' Ms Elves said: 'Going back to apparent difficulty with the screenshots, I think you told the tribunal that you can't fathom any technological explanation; do you accept that one explanation for images that purport to show the inexplicable is they have been manipulated?' Mr Donaldson said: 'I can't say it's impossible.' The tribunal continues.
