Ed Davey - spot the difference on NHS cuts
"Stop the NHS Cuts" says Government Minister. That was then in 2008. Now, Ed Davey has shamefully endorsed the proposed savage cuts in jobs and wards at Kingston Hospital. The difference is that now he is in government. Wrong kind of cuts...
“When a Minister describes a 10% penalty charge as a “Secretary of State allocation adjustment”, it’s clear we’ve entered a 1984 Big Brother world of “Newspeak”. Labour are simply desperate to avoid the word “cuts”, in case it seems as if we are going back to the bad old Tory days.“The truth is, these are damaging cuts to Kingston’s NHS, and they come from Whitehall. I hope local people will back my campaign to stop the NHS cuts.”
28 November 2008
The question is will local people back Ed Davey?
STOP PRESS.......
17th February 2011
486 Jobs axed at Kingston Hospital (214 Nurses)
Minister Ed Davey's response to the local Surrey Comet
18th February 2011
the cuts were different to those he campaigned against before the general election.
He said: "When the future of accident and emergency and maternity were in question the rationale for that was the desire to deliver savings by closing services.
"The rationale for a five year programme of efficiency in Kingston and other hospital trusts is to make savings to keep services open whilst also improving quality.
He said: "I'm not going to pretend this isn't a challenge, these plans caused me to ask detailed questions, but I actually have real confidence in the management."
