Nurse says Sunak 'has his head in the clouds' after disappointing hospital visit
A nurse has blasted the Prime Minister for having his "head in the clouds" after a roundly disappointing visit to her hospital in which he made even more promises to the NHS.
Rishi Sunak took a trip to Milton Keynes University Hospital to unveil plans for 900 extra NHS beds. But Lilian Soribe, a Practice Educator at the hospital, was left less than impressed. She said the plan does not solve the problems she and the other nurses at the hospital - and across the country - face.
Speaking after Mr Sunak returned from a trip to California to visit wards at the site, Lilian, 38, said: “I think his head is still in the clouds from his holiday. If there are 900 beds and we get one or two we still need at least another 99 - and it doesn’t really solve the problems we have capacity-wise.
“Staffing is the biggest problem we are facing at the moment. The gap we are trying to plug keeps widening. How do we get new nurses and train them without the budget?"
The senior nurse was left less than impressed by the Tory leader's visit (Philip Coburn /Daily Mirror)Lilian, who trained in Nigeria and has worked at the hospital since 2016, feared the PM does “not appreciate the grit that goes into this profession”. She added: “We know we’re not getting the response we need from him, we expect more and we are seeing so little. You end up feeling that you are not able to provide the quality care for patients. You can feel depressed as a member of staff, demotivated because you are unable to do the work you’re supposed to be doing, and undervalued.”
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Brazen Sunak made the promises after 12,000 beds in the NHS have been cut since the Tories returned to power. Returning from his Disneyland holiday in California, the Prime Minister visited Milton Keynes University Hospital, Bucks, to claim the £250million plan “is another step” on the “journey to a better performing NHS, delivering better care for people particularly this winter”.
But one patient’s partner leaving the same hospital accused him of trying to “bribe” voters with the announcement, adding: “He won’t bribe me.” The PM claimed: “These 900 new beds will mean more people can be treated quickly, speeding up flow through hospitals and reducing frustratingly long waits for treatment.”
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused the Government of saddling the NHS with “huge backlogs, unacceptable waiting times and an annual winter crisis”. He said: “Now Rishi Sunak is offering a sticking plaster which comes nowhere near the 12,000 beds the Conservatives have cut over the last 13 years.”
The PM recently returned from a holiday to Disneyland (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Visually impaired Liz Roe, 76, who was treated at the hospital for a broken finger hours after the PM’s visit, accused him of being “out of touch.” The retired teacher said: “It appears that Rishi Sunak can’t really understand the issues within the services. The fact that nursing is a vocation is used against [staff] as though because it’s a vocation you don’t need to be paid more. It’s ridiculous - they’re incredibly underpaid and understaffed.”
Her partner Christopher Lewtey, 78, an RAF and Army veteran, accused the PM of attempting to “bribe the electorate” ahead of a general election by boasting about the extra beds. “He’s privileged and doesn’t understand,” he said. "He won’t bribe me. This does nothing to convince me that he understands the needs of ordinary people.”
The 900 new beds may not be available until January - leaving the struggling health service battling its winter for weeks without them. NHS Providers policy director Miriam Deakin said extra beds were “just one piece of a much larger puzzle”. She warned: “As winter is the busiest time of the year for urgent and emergency care, trust leaders will be very concerned that this extra capacity is only expected to be in place by January. For the best results, trusts would need these new beds before winter begins.”
King’s Fund health think tank chief analyst Siva Anandaciva welcomed more beds, but added: “To improve care for patients the NHS also needs enough clinical professionals to staff these extra beds.”
Royal College of Nursing chief executive Pat Cullen said: “The elephant in the room is who will staff these additional beds? Nursing staff are already spread too thinly over too many patients.”
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