NHS staff reveal toll of cuts to Glasgow healthcare services

Unison has shared powerful testimony from NHS professionals which detail the damage and distress being felt daily by those working on the frontline in hospitals and health centres.

The union claim that removing at least 172 roles in community health care, on top of 63 that were lost last year, is pushing already stretched services to breaking point and allowing vulnerable patients to fall through the cracks.

Today stressed-out staff speak exclusively to the Glasgow Times about the demands of providing frontline care - and have told us that lives will be lost unless investment is made a priority. 

Together with Unite and the Royal College of Nursing, Unison has entered a formal dispute with Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board over the cuts, which it says are being actioned without meaningful consultation with staff, patients and the community.

The city’s Integrated Joint Board meets to set the budget for 2024/25 on March 20, with calls for urgent political intervention amid claims that staffing levels are already cut to the bone.

READ MORE: Glasgow mum Stephanie Bonner to help shape Police Reform Bill

One whistleblower, who works in a Glasgow health care facility, said: “These cuts will have devastating consequences for patients. These people are already on the edge, they are in crisis and need our help, they are in real distress.

“Community mental health teams, trauma services, hospital ward nurses, when people in these roles are retiring or leaving and you’re not filling these posts, both patients and the staff are left suffer. Lifeline therapies can’t be offered like they were even a year or two ago, and without them people will die.

 “Ten thousand people in Glasgow go through primary care every year. With these planned cuts, 2000 people will not get that support and in turn will not get the medical treatment they need. Suicide rates for example will rise, along with family breakdowns.”

Another source told how inpatient services at several Glasgow hospitals are also being impacted due to staffing issues.

They added: “All we hear about are the shortages of beds, but there is also a real shortage of staff to man the wards too. The problem isn’t just that we are short-staffed, it’s the lack of experienced nurses, that level of knowledge gained over many years, that ‘second sight’, it just isn’t there any longer.

“It’s not minor problems that these teams are dealing with – their patients have complex mental health needs, and because a lot of these people are very unwell, they can deteriorate quite quickly.

“Some patients are barely hanging on and if we lose more staff then lives will be lost."

Unison say that cuts and unmet needs will cause early deaths and a highly damaging ripple effects in other parts of the health service.

They claim a lack of clarity over exactly where the cuts will be imposed is also causing distress to staff.

Cathy Miller, Unison Branch Secretary for NHS Glasgow Clyde & CVS, said: “I urge the people of Glasgow to wake up to what is being done to their NHS through backdoor cuts. We have been sounding the alarm for months, but we need the public to join us in standing up for these services.

“The pressure on these services is extreme and is driving good, experienced staff to retire or look for jobs elsewhere. We can’t take more cuts – we need the Scottish Government, the health board and the HSCP to stop and instead invest.”

Lorcan Mullen, Unison Regional Organiser for NHS Glasgow Clyde & CVS, is also calling on health chiefs to enter meaningful negotiations.

Lorcan Mullen, Unison Regional Organiser for NHS Glasgow Clyde & CVS. (Image: Colin Mearns)

He added: “Nobody in this city can seriously argue that we have too much capacity to treat mental illness, or that cutting any of these jobs is an efficiency. We need the employer to enter serious negotiations with us to put in place meaningful and comprehensive consultation with staff on any service changes, but we also need serious political intervention to stop these cuts. The pressure on professionals working in mental health services – as reflected in the frontline testimony we have gathered – is extreme, and they must be resourced to succeed in their brave and important work.”

Another source the Glasgow Times told how cuts to community health teams will lead to higher caseloads for already burnt-out staff.

They said: “With smaller workloads, staff can manage patients’ wellbeing but when waiting lists grow to more than 30 people, it becomes a case of juggling to get people seen and you stop being able to provide a proper level of care.

“Larger caseloads mean sometimes not being able to see someone when you should. It means little moments that can become big issues can be missed.”

The nurse added: “In some cases, 50% of wards now have patients with a personality disorder, really extreme cases. They end up on a ward because they are not safe to be in community, and if further cuts are made to community services, this will only get worse.”

Another whistleblower told how staff are putting off taking leave due to unmanageable workloads, adding: “There is a bottle neck of holiday entitlement now because people know when they come back the work will be piled up. At a time when people are being encouraged to find a better work life balance, it is not right. Personally, I’ve started looking for a new job.”

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership said:  “Like all health services we face challenging financial times and difficult decisions. However, we don’t recognise the numbers UNISON is reporting.

“We remain committed to working with all unions, including Unison, about the budget and staffing. The details of the GCHSCP budget will be agreed when the Glasgow City Integrated Joint Board (IJB) meets on Wednesday 20th March to set its budget. At this stage there’s little indication we require to reduce health staff on the scale Unison is claiming.