Gwent Hospital bed reductions show that Labour/Plaid gimmicks already hitting care

3.12.30pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 10th Jun 2008

Gwent Trust has been forced to withdraw beds

Welsh Lib Dem Health Spokesperson, Jenny Randerson AM today warned the Labour/Plaid Assembly Government that Gwent NHS Trust's decision to cut the number of beds and overtime will become the tip of the iceberg unless they refocus spending away from headline grabbing "gimmicks".

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have been calling for many months on the Government to stop wasting money and refocus their tight spending ability on ensuring frontline services are reinforced.

Jenny Randerson said: "The decision of Gwent Trust to effectively cut services in order to tighten their belts could become a regular occurrence across Wales unless the Government get their priorities right.

"We believe that providing free paracetomol for millionaires and free parking in Welsh hospitals for commuters working nearby is already cutting into core services. This is clear evidence that this is happening. Gwent has lost over £1m because the Minister decided to drop all car parking fees without giving trusts any time at all to even plan for it. This accounts for a significant part of the money that they are now desperately trying to cut."

Notes:

Gwent Healthcare trust lost approximately £1.1m through the abolition of car parking charges and has a shortfall in its budget of around £17m. The measures are designed to mitigate against this and help the trust to balance its books.

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