Jobs at risk as Hampshire County Council plans cuts to New Forest health clinics
JOBS will be at risk at health clinics across the New Forest if Hampshire County Council goes ahead with plans to cut services.
Sexual health clinics in Hythe, New Milton and Ringwood are at risk of closure, and several face-to-face stop-smoking services at venues across the county – including Ringwood Medical Centre – could also go, writes Maria Zaccaro of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The number of health visitors, school nurses and community staff nurses could be slashed, with 47 jobs at risk, and other services, such as the HIV and syphilis self-sampling service and counselling for those experiencing psychosexual problems, could be axed.
Access to free emergency hormonal contraception – known as the ‘morning after pill’– at community pharmacies could be limited to those aged under 24.
HCC, which is considering the moves in a bid to save £6.8m by 2022, has not yet confirmed the total number of jobs that would be at risk.
The council said the proposals come as “opportunities to further reduce costs are getting harder to find”.
A public consultation will run until 9th August, with a final decision set to be taken later this year.
Opponents of the plans, including the leader of New Forest Lib Dems, Cllr David Harrison, have described them as “a major blow” and “slap in the face”.
“The proposals for cutting investment in all these essential services raise the prospect of dire consequences," said Cllr Harrison. "You don’t need to be an expert on public health to understand that preventing ill health is a great deal better than the costs involved if you fail to do so. Once again, we are seeing short-term thinking.”
According to official documents, hundreds of residents use these services each year, and Callum Williamson, branch secretary at Hampshire Unison, said the proposed cuts would have “a devastating impact” on Hampshire communities.
He added: “The most vulnerable would be the hardest hit. For our members who have given their all throughout the pandemic, this will be a slap in the face. The council must prioritise services for the most vulnerable and call out the government’s callous indifference to what is unfolding up and down the country.”
A worker who is likely to be affected by the proposal, but who does not want to be named, said: “These cuts make a mockery of the public who clapped for their NHS. They should be outraged by this covert decimation of services, which have offered vital support for decades. These cuts will ultimately cost all of us so much more in human and economic terms.”
According to official documents, hundreds of residents use these services each year.
Callum Williamson, branch secretary at Hampshire Unison, said the proposed cuts would have “a devastating impact” on Hampshire communities.
He added: “The most vulnerable would be the hardest hit. For our members who have given their all throughout the pandemic, this will be a slap in the face. The council must prioritise services for the most vulnerable and call out the government’s callous indifference to what is unfolding up and down the country.”
Cllr Liz Fairhurst, cabinet member for health at the county council, said the authority’s public health service is funded through a ring-fenced government grant.
She added: “The service has worked hard to reduce its costs by improving efficiency and early intervention and prevention, thereby limiting the impact of savings on frontline service delivery. However, opportunities to further reduce costs are getting harder to find, and extra pressures mean that an additional £6.8 million must now be found.
"In order to meet the county council’s savings obligations, the service is proposing to re-focus its budget to support the public health work being undertaken more widely across the local authority, as well as continuing to improve the health of the population and deliver key mandated services.”
