Challenging and Changing Times in the NHS

We have great staff at the Royal Surrey, who are dedicated to providing and improving our great care as a hospital and cancer centre in Guildford.   They also never hold back from telling us what they think and how the whole organisation can be better. 

The huge financial challenges facing the NHS are well documented in the press at the moment.  To date, our staff have done a fantastic job of identifying savings for this year but we need to find even more savings in the years to come.  

The Trust’s priority is to provide and maintain high quality and safe care for our patients.  We cannot avoid making savings on employment costs but to ensure that the savings we need to make do not affect the level of service we offer we want to protect, where possible, the number of posts in the organisation.  Therefore bringing down the cost of jobs can help ensure we save jobs and protect patient care. 

We are exploring whether reviewing some terms and conditions of employment to make savings will help us take on the financial challenges facing us and protect the quality of services we offer.   

This is a really difficult dilemma but one that should not be concluded without those affected being given the chance to give us their views and ideas.  We have contacted all our staff with a survey to ask for their views on potential changes to their terms and conditions of employment.  In less than two weeks, over 1,000 staff have responded already. 

As well as a top provider of care, we are a recognised top employer and intend to stay that way.  I firmly believe that giving staff the chance to shape our future should be welcomed and ask their representatives to keep an open mind to the solutions needed for the good of patients and NHS staff. 

Michael Pantlin

Director of HR and Organisational Development