Who would have thought it?

Posted By: Jean Ashworth
Date Posted: 22/08/2009

Well the day finally arrived I reached my 60th birthday and retired from the NHS after 32 years service. 

Where have those years gone I constantly ask myself?

I started work at Birch Hill Hospital in1978 in the laundry. I used to work 4.30 until 8.30pm to fit in with my children at the time; as Allan came home I was ready to go to work and home just in time to put the children to bed.

It was a great atmosphere in the laundry, hard work but a rewarding job.

After 5 years I decided to apply for night duty as an auxiliary nurse. I so remember that interview with the night manager Pat Brookes and Sister Margaret Derrick (with whom I am still good friends today). I did 10 years of nights on various wards at that time Birch Hill had a burns unit which I worked quite a lot on as well as surgery, medical, and the children’s pavilion.

The Chief Executive was Robert Clegg he knew every single employee by name and made a point of visiting every ward not just to check on patients but to make sure his staff were ok just as Pat Brookes did on nights those really were the days staff were valued.

In 1990 I decided to go on days and went to work on the Special Care Baby Unit for 3 years but I so missed the toddlers and the older children I asked to go back to the pavilion it was a fantastic ward 28 beds with 7 isolation wards and two massive outside play areas.

Then the rumours started that Birch Hill was to close and I started to write letters to the media, voice my concerns and spoke publicly at various meetings, the worst thing they ever agreed to do in my opinion at that time was to include North Manchester in the Pennine Acute this was far to big a merger to deal with and Rochdale would suffer as a result. Rubbish I was told? Then the management structure changed gone were the managers with nursing experience who cared about their staff as well as patients in came the business managers who hadn’t a clue who the staff were or did the staff know them communication between staff and management ceased to exist.

So the plans went ahead with a solemn promise that the move to the Infirmary site would include “Phase 2” that came as a used block of offices called Stonehill as a “temporary” measure which failed to accommodate its purpose hence certain services had to start being moved out of Rochdale because of lack of room at the Infirmary. Now we hear that the Pennine acute have applied for another 3 years planning permission for this block for what reason I wonder?

Then came the reconfiguration and despite all of our campaigns lead by the local media and Friends of Our Hospital and thousands of petitions handed in to Number 10 against these ridiculous proposals to downgrade our hospital the decision to downgrade our valuable hospital was made by people who did not even live in the area or listen to the people, it was a matter of the Government has decided and they will obey regardless!

So now we are seeing more and more mobile units, a lift centre Nye Bevan House open 8 – 6pm closed at weekends, our walk in centre being moved into the A&E department which every single day is just so busy ready for no more blue light service, our ambulance staff stretched to the limits, our children’s ward still very busy but with limited staff due to some already moved to the new children’s hospital in North Manchester and our maternity unit busier than ever with a very high level of baby’s being born.

Only last week my husband was taken very poorly at work it took the Emergency Ambulance 25 minutes to get to him because Rochdale was grid-locked by an incident on the motorway not even a blue light could get through thankfully he was taken to Rochdale Infirmary’s A&E already people were waiting on stretchers in the corridor! this was no fault of the dedicated hard working staff he had the best possible care and stabilised before being admitted to a ward were are these people going to go when Rochdale closes as Oldham and Fairfield were also waiting to treat people ambulances were also queuing at both these hospitals as well.
Some talk about not being able to visit their loved ones in Hospital because of the traffic problems and transport issues yet we are told there isn’t a problem.

We read that a baby had to be turned away from the new children’s hospital in North Manchester needing emergency treatment because of lack of beds and having to go 35 miles away to Alder Hey the reason being an unusual high volume of poorly children all of our children’s wards are extremely busy in the Pennine Acute what happens in winter I dread to think.

What a mess and it is going to get worse as they continue to downgrade our healthcare.

Will I miss working for the NHS I am asked. The answer is I will miss the children and their families, I will miss my wonderful colleagues but I won’t miss working for a system that has no values for patients or its loyal staff.

Councillor Jean Ashworth