Hospitals trust hits back at union over 'no confidence' vote
The trust which runs Grantham Hospital has hit back at health union Unite after it passed a vote of no confidence in its management.
Unite, Britain and Ireland’s largest union, said that the management of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) appeared to be more worried about minor issues than understaffing on the wards in some of the hospitals.
It has called for NHS Improvement (NHSI), responsible for overseeing NHS trusts, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the regulator for health and social care services in England, to pay a second visit to the trust for a more in-depth investigation.
But ULHT has responded saying providing top quality patient care is always its number one priority.
Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development Martin Rayson said: “Providing top quality patient care is always our number one priority. As everyone will know, the Trust has made significant improvements over recent years going from an ‘inadequate’ Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating to ‘requires improvement’, and we believe we are now on track to come out of special measures.
“Modernising our services and making improvements to the quality of our care, as well as tackling our deficit, means that the Trust’s historic ways of working are changing for the benefit of our patients and their families. We appreciate that these changes can impact on our staff side colleagues and may be causing additional pressures, and so have been working closely with our staff and their representatives to ensure that any necessary improvements are managed properly.
“We are very disappointed that Unite has decided to take this approach, especially as we recently held a facilitated workshop to resolve any issues of partnership working, where the Trust reiterated our commitment to working together in the interests of patients and staff. Unfortunately we have not been given the opportunity to respond to any of the union’s latest concerns but are happy to sit down with them to find a resolution.”