Zero hours contracts for Ministers, please @ No 10

Arturo was more than a bit animated: "I say, Butch mi old pal! Do you see what I see? Even the upstairs cat, Larry, is leaving the sinking ship!"

He was right. Behind Nick Robinson's shoulders on BBC TV News last night, Larry and friend were distinctly seen quitting their posts. We all know that rats leave a sinking ship - but this was ridiculous!

Of course, we both knew why Larry was getting out of the way. 'Boy David' Cameron has been pacing the corridors saying : "Am I a man or a mouse? Am I a man or a mouse?"

Well - we all know the answer to that, don't we - he's neither man nor mouse but a jerk! And today, he demonstrated his foolishness with great aplomb. He gave the job of Secretary of State for Health to none other than Jeremy 'Gormless' Hunt. Yes, he of the shifty look who you can hear whimper: "It weren't me, Guv, honest!"

In a much respected blog, 'The Green Benches', written by Dr Éoin Clarke dismay is expressed at the promotion of 'Gormless' Hunt.

Cameron's new man in charge of the NHS, Jeremy Hunt, supports cutting NHS funding for the poor & giving it to the rich.

http://eoin-clarke.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/camerons-new-man-in-charge-of-nhs.html

The 'new man in charge of the NHS' will discover an already butchered service. The Coalition is so desperate to save money that it will destroy almost anything of value. Hence, 'zero hours contracts' are being implemented across large swathes of the NHS.

You do know about zero hours contracts, don't you? In case you don't - take a look at James Cusick's article in the Independent on 3 September. It was headed:

Health warning over army of NHS 'temps'

It makes chilling reading for anyone concerned about the future of patient care.

Cusik writes:

NHS trusts are increasingly employing key clinical staff on "zero-hours" contracts which threaten to turn parts of the reformed service into an army of "temps".

Hospital trusts and private firms are turning to the contracts – which bind employees to on-call working but do not guarantee any specified number of hours or income or employment rights – to meet demands in the Government's controversial market-driven changes to the NHS, The Independent has learnt.

The move risks damaging training and expertise, critics say, and could risk a "G4S-style" situation where trusts could find that supposedly key employees are not available to work.

Is this any way to run a National Health Service? I think not! What type of people will be prepared, after years of training, to be employed on this basis?

Cusik continued:

The shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, said: "I'm calling on the Government to halt the spread of zero-hours contracts in the NHS pending an urgent review into the potential risks to continuity of care and patient safety."

Mr Burnham said that the growing use of the contracts was a "depressing symptom of the Government's drive to turn England's health service into a full-blown market".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/health-warning-over-army-of-nhs-temps-8101469.html

The Mail Online was equally exercised over the NHS zero hours affair.

Increasing numbers of highly skilled clinical staff are being employed on McDonalds-style 'zero-hours' contracts, risking the health and safety of NHS patients, it was revealed today.

The controversial deals bind staff to being on call, despite having no guarantees on hours, pay or some employment rights.

McDonald's, the world's biggest fast-food chain, employs the majority of its 87,500 UK staff on this basis, allowing them to call in workers at short notice at busy periods or not at all if it is quiet.

They only get paid for the hours they are there, meaning they are 'in work, but not always at work,' experts say.

The NHS has used this kind of contract to cover low-skilled jobs like cleaning, but now it is claimed the Government's controversial reforms are allowing more trusts to use them to cover frontline staff treating the public in hospitals and clinics.

These include cardiac services, physiotherapy, psychiatric therapy, and hearing services.

The Mail Online continued:

Critics fear that trusts could be left in a 'G4S situation', where they are unable to muster enough staff when some of these 'zero-hours' staff fail to turn up for shifts because they are working elsewhere or put off the job because of their contract.

G4S suffered humiliation this summer when on the eve of London 2012 it revealed it could not bring in enough staff, meaning thousands of soldiers were brought in to guard the Games.

http://m.dailymail.co.uk/mobile/news/article.html?articleID=2197532

"If this Coalition government thinks that zero hours contracts are good enough for doctors and nurses - then zero hours contracts are certainly good enough for Coalition Ministers." Arturo shook his head, then added: "What sort of contract do you reckon old Larry's got?"

We're going mousing tonight - upstairs!

'Bye'