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UNISON CALLS FOR HALT TO DANGEROUS DRIVE TO END ON-SITE HOSPITAL
STERILISATION
UNISON, the
UK’s largest public sector union, is calling for a halt to a
dangerous drive to end in-house sterilisation of hospital operating
theatre equipment. The Department of Health is backing big
private decontamination supercentres, which are replacing on-site
sterilisation, threatening patient safety and leading to cancelled
operations.
Mike Jackson, UNISON Senior National Officer said:- “Sadly
operations are being cancelled because of incomplete packs or broken
and dirty instruments. UNISON has warned time and time again that
taking sterilisation services out of hospitals and replacing them
with supercentres - which are often miles away - is a recipe for
disaster.
No one should have to go through the pain and distress of having
their operation cancelled at the last minute because the right
equipment is not in place. And lives should not be put at risk
unnecessarily because surgical instruments have not been properly
decontaminated and sterilised.
Patient safety should come before private profit, clearly that is
not happening here. The Government must call a halt to this
dangerous drive to close down in-house sterilisation services before
more patients are made to suffer.”
Right from the start a UNISON report made clear that the whole
programme setting up these supercentres was fundamentally flawed,
and that highly questionable financial incentives were involved and
we are being proved right. Hospital Trusts are seduced with
promises of up to £1m from the Department of Health to buy new
equipment, if they sign up to the private projects.
The union is campaigning against new centres being set up in other
parts of the country from the South West to the far north. The
supercentres mean that highly specialised instruments will be
travelling long distances and be vulnerable to hold-ups because of
bad weather, road works, congestion and traffic accidents. In
addition packs contain delicate equipment easily damaged in transit.
Mike Jackson added:- “The risks of this programme far outweigh
the benefits. In addition to patient safety the environmental costs
are high. Instead of a short journey on a hospital trolley,
thousands of extra road miles are necessary to transport the
equipment." |
SCHOOL CHILDREN IN MERSEYSIDE ASKED TO CREATE A VISION OF THE
ENVIRONMENT IN 2050
SCHOOL
children across the region are being urged to think about the impact
that energy wastage will have on the future environment, following
the launch of a national poster competition. The competition,
which coincides with the launch of TAC’s energy conservation
campaign, is called ‘Energy Impact 2050’ and asks primary
school children in Merseyside to design a poster that will encourage
their friends and family to think about what our planet may look
like in 2050 if we do not take action to save energy now.
Competition packs have been sent to primary schools across the
region and schools have until 1 July, 2008 to participate. Every
child that takes part will have the chance to be the grand prize
winner and could win a cash prize of £1,000 for their school and a
prize pack, with runners up winning £100 for their school and a
prize pack.
Prize packs include a wind-up radio and a certificate.
The winning school will be announced to coincide with a grand
presentation ceremony in London later this year.
TAC UK is the energy management company which has launched the
energy conservation campaign with the aim of helping raise awareness
among parents, teachers and school children of energy-saving
initiatives.
With the serious message of ‘Future Social
Responsibility’ TAC believes that energy conservation must be a
priority in the education of the next generation.
Richard Strode from TAC said:- “Almost half of the UK’s carbon
dioxide emissions, the main greenhouse gas which is believed to
cause climate change, actually comes from the things we do every
day, such as leaving lights on unnecessarily and over-filling the
kettle.
We have launched this poster competition as the
effects of poor energy management will be far more apparent to
future generations and it is essential that we begin to educate them
about energy conservation now.”
The poster competition will give around 150,000 children in England
a chance to take part and learn about energy impacts in the future. |
