“uhl is on bed stage 3 at the moment, one more stage and it will be bed crisis. how can you sundenly close all these wards when we struggle to find beds now.”

“Don¿t kid yourself, nothing happens over night in the NHS. All these plans have been in the pipe line for a long time. 9 wards to close will mean patients are sent home or shoved off into care homes before they are fit to leave. More and more patients will bounce back into hospital because of early discharge to free up beds and sadly some will die because of these cut backs. I suggest you shout from the roof tops if a relative suffers below standard care because of this. Believe me, the loader you shout, unfortunately, the better the care you will receive. Please don¿t blame the frontline staff, it¿s not their fault.”

“Here we go again. 9 wards to close. Staff not being replaced when they leave. I was there last time round when they were in a financial mess. The same thing happened then. Staff were not replaced and the staff that was there were messed about so much that many left because they couldn¿t stand the upset of being treated with no respect. Many felt it was a cleaver ploy by management to trim back the work force by making the staff so unhappy they¿d leave. Patient care should be the number one consideration but alas it is way down the list. Good luck front line workers, I fear you are going to need it and don¿t forget to read the small print of all new paper work you are given regarding your new jobs when they start to move you around.”

“Is this beside the one bed they have already removed from each ward and side wards at Glenfield”

“what a shame the LGH has had to close wards to save money,i trained there and have always been proud of that.
only last month they saved my brothers life.
i wish all the staff are well looked after when they do this closing and not just the fat cats.”

“Until we know what this is all about there is no point in speculating. When we have the detail then we can start to make legitimate representations. But on the subject of salaries, I do wish people would stop whinging about managers on high salaries. Consultants get really high salaries but I don't hear anyone whinging about them. Veemauve, I am sure you are talking about managers and not clinicians. Some of these "high ups" have seriously wide ranging responsibilities, perhaps you should consider that they are just as worthy as clinicians. Jealousy is a very unattractive thing.”

“Why is it that staff who work at UHL in Leicester have to here about what is happening via the press? Savings are being made in order to gain Foundation status. Stafford Hospital comes to mind!!!!!”

“Regarding Veemauve's second comment, i fully agree. Unpaid leave is not an option in this current climate.
But Veemauve's first comment isn't really fair to the people who have worked hard to get to their salary-level.
As an NHS employee I've worked my way up from the bottom and am finally earning well in a senior management position.
And lastly, a large number of senior management are ex-nurses, ex-doctors, ex-clinical in general.”

“I don't understand why they don't know which wards will close ??
If it not to do with cost cutting, then presumably is due to under - use ? If so, they must have measured this and know which wards are under used ??”

“When are the powers that be going to stop cutting back on patient care, and instead get rid of the six figure salaried Chief Executives and these so called "Hospital Managers". Do these people know anything about healthcare? One of the wards which is either closing or being merged is the Gastroenterology ward (ward 1) at Leicester General. I spent 11 days in there last year and the care I received by all who worked on that ward was second to none. It is always the frontline staff who have to suffer and not the invisible bigwigs who keep trying to justify their fatcat salaries.”