Union Warns Thousands Of NHS Jobs At Risk

Thousands of jobs could be at risk in the NHS in England because of spending cuts.

The Royal College of Nursing has estimated that between 5,000 and 35,000 jobs could be axed if the NHS pushes ahead with spending cuts.

The union has said the loss of posts would put the health service under "real strain".

The NHS has been asked to find between £15bn and £20bn pounds in efficiency savings over the next three years.

Dr Carter from the Royal College of Nursing said it was "disingenuous" to suggest you could remove £20bn from the £100bn NHS budget and "nothing changes".

"I really can't see that you can take £20bn out and expect everything to carry on as is it is."

He said that losses from redundancies and posts not being replaced on retirement would be felt across the health service, not solely nursing staff.

He continued that staff cuts would have a real impact on patient care.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham promised that frontline jobs would be protected under Labour.

"It would not be right to guarantee every job. But Labour will protect frontline services, which we can't do without protecting frontline staff."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman, Norman Lamb, said: "It's incredibly short-sighted to think the only way to save money in the NHS is to slash and burn services."

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "We know that by cutting bureaucracy and the tick-box targets, we can free nurses to care."

"Because we will increase the NHS budget, savings will be reinvested in frontline care and improvements."

In data collected by the Royal College Of Nursing from 180 trusts in April, nearly all health care workers believed they were already short staffed at least several times a month.

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Nursery Slammed As 'Ideal' For Child Abuse

The nursery where Vanessa George worked provided "an ideal environment" for her to prey on toddlers in her care, an official report has concluded.

The 40-year-old paedophile was jailed last year for taking photographs on her phone as she abused children at the Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth, Devon.

Plymouth City Council's Safeguarding Children Board described it as a "shocking and unprecedented case".

But it admitted that due to serious failings in Ofsted's supervisory framework similar crimes could be happening in other nurseries in the UK.

The board launched a serious case review following the arrest of the self-styled "paedo whore mum" and dozens of people were interviewed.

Its aim was to determine how an apparently respected and well-liked nursery worker was able to commit her crimes without drawing any attention.

The review concluded that a combination of weak management, poor training and a lack of external scrutiny "provided an ideal environment within which George could abuse".

And while it said no-one could have predicted George would be a risk to children, her colleagues failed to raise the alarm when her behaviour and conversations became increasingly sexualised.

George, who was a senior member of staff, even showed colleagues adult porn images on her mobile phone.

It also emerged she was never formally interviewed for the job.

"Her age, personality and length of service could have created an illusion of power and encouraged a sense of trust," it added.

"K (George) is of the ability to behave in a highly manipulative manner and hence gain high levels of trust in others."

The board recommended steps to stop similar scandals happening again, including safer recruitment procedures and effective whistleblowing procedures.

Little Teds Nursery in Plymouth

Little Ted's nursery was closed after the scandal

A number of lessons needed to be learned, it added, but "ultimate responsibility for the abuse must rest with K (George)".

Sky's Katie Stallard said the victims' parents were shown details of the report on Wednesday night and were angry with education standards watchdog Ofsted for allowing the crimes to happen.

The board's chairman Jim Gould said Ofsted's framework was not adequate to protect toddlers in nurseries.

Asked by Stallard whether there might be similar cases in other parts of the UK, he replied: "I think it would be foolish for anyone to say this could never happen again."

"We would like to see Ofsted strengthen the inspection of nurseries to ensure there is a culture in all nursery settings that maximises the safeguarding of children," he said.

Colin Blanchard

George was obsessed with paedophile Colin Blanchard

A spokesman for Ofsted said: "Today's serious case review highlights a number of areas of concern. It is important that lessons are learnt from this case.

"Ofsted has already implemented a number of changes in the way we work as a result of this review and to address the recommendations made."

These include speeding up its complaints process and improving the sharing of information with local authorities

The Department for Education said an ongoing review would consider whether standards for protecting young children need to be strengthened.

The nursery was closed in June 2009 after the abuse was discovered.

George was given an supervisory prison sentence after admitting seven sexual assaults and six counts of making and distributing indecent pictures of children.

She was told she would serve a minimum of seven years before she could be considered for parole.

She was part of a paedophile ring featuring four women and headed by known sex offender Colin Blanchard, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The extent of the abuse unravelled as police investigated pornographic pictures found on Blanchard's computer by his work colleague.

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