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.

NEWS BY:http://news.sky.com

Super university for Manchester

A new super university will be created in autumn next year with the merger of Manchester University and Umist after the councils of the two universities gave their final agreement.

The merger had been first discussed in March last year. It was formally agreed by the two university councils last October, but was dependent on funding being found.

It will create the largest UK university outside of London. London nominally remains the largest UK university but that structure has become less important as the autonomy of the colleges has increased.

More than £82m in grants has now been secured for the new institution whose name will be decided in less than three months' time.

The package of funding includes £65m from the higher education funding council for England, the office of science and technology and the north-west development agency. A further £17m will come from the science research investment fund.

The vice-chancellor of Manchester University, Sir Martin Harris and John Garside, the principal and vice chancellor of Umist (the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology), said: "We are delighted that central government and the north-west development agency have provided the practical financial support to help the universities to realise their vision. The extra investment on this scale is unique.

"We have a solid foundation on which to build a truly world-class university that will continue to attract the best students, the most talented staff and significant research funds from around the world.

The new university will have an annual income of £420m and will have the breadth and quality of research and teaching to attract staff and students. It will have around 34,000 students and the merger will cut competition and duplication, streamline administration and create a clearer identity.

Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, said: "The merger will establish a centre for world-class research in Manchester, both in terms of size and resources." 

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/mar/07/highereducation.administration