Diabetes ward axed to cut costs

Aug 25 2006 By Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

A WARD that specialises in treating diabetes sufferers has been shut down at trouble-hit Good Hope Hospital as part of cost-cutting plans to save £700,000 a year.

But bosses of the debt-ridden hospital, in Sutton Coldfield, said the closure was part of a drive to improve efficiency and means there will be more staff on other wards.

Ward 12, in the former Richard Salt Unit, specialised in treating diabetics, but it has now been permanently emptied with specialist beds merged on to other wards.

Good Hope managers pledged that service levels would not change and none of the 26 nurse jobs on the ward have been lost or made redundant.

Phil Milligan, managing director of Good Hope Hospital, said: "The closure of one ward is expected to save the trust more than £700,000 a year, mostly through the reduced need for agency staff."

New schemes to improve services have also been introduced, including an electronic system to speed up the handover between nursing shifts.

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