Nurses fear forced transfer could lead to Bassetlaw ICU shutting through ‘decommissioning by stealth.’
Intensive Care Unit nurses at Bassetlaw Hospital will strike over attempts to transfer them to Doncaster Royal Infirmary for at least two months a year, with the possibility of this being increased to four, says Unite Union.
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has threatened to fire and rehire the nurses on new contracts stipulating that they must work part-time in Doncaster if they refuse to transfer voluntarily.
The proposals have already led to four members of staff leaving Bassetlaw ICU for other units. The nurses fear the transfers are one more step towards Bassetlaw Hospital losing its ICU permanently through ‘decommissioning by stealth’.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “An NHS trust should not even be thinking of firing and rehiring staff – it is an abhorrent practice that should be banned outright.
“The trust’s threats have simply strengthened the nurses’ resolve to stop Bassetlaw’s residents from being deprived of a critically important health resource. They have Unite’s full support in taking strike action.”
Unite refutes claims by the trust’s management that nurses are at risk of being deskilled due to a lack of exposure to level three patients (those who are ventilated or have multiple organ failure).
The trust’s own data shows that there has not been a downward trend and that, per capita, nurses at Bassetlaw have a similar or higher exposure to level three patients than nurses at Doncaster.
Unite regional officer Chris Rawlinson said: “The trust’s plan is entirely unreasonable. They add at least an hour and a half commute for those who drive and three hours for those who use public transport.
“This is on top of the 13-hour shifts the nurses already work – risking burnout for them and needlessly endangering patient safety due to staff exhaustion.
“Furthermore, this is a clear attempt at decommissioning by stealth – with the real risk that Bassetlaw patients in urgent need of an ICU will end up having to travel 20 miles to Doncaster to access one. The trust must row back.”
Dates for strike action will be scheduled in the coming weeks if the dispute is not resolved.
