New Surgeon at Ashvale A&E Read Free Page A

organisation. They are the ones who keep the system going, and reducing numbers will only result in stressed, overworked staff members. The end result will be to bring down morale even further than it has fallen already.’
    Sam shook his head. ‘The alternative will be to close units down altogether. Is that what you want to see? These debts will not simply fade away. It may be an unpalatable fact, but savings have to be made somehow.’
    ‘And how did those debts come about?’ Ruby’s grey eyes challenged him. ‘I’ll remind you, shall I? It was because of the finance deals entered into by the trust board to ensure that the building of the brand new Heritage Hospital could go ahead…the state-of-the-art, be all and end all of hospitals.’
    ‘Yes, that’s true.’ His tone was appeasing, smoothing over the arguments she’d made as though all was perfectly in order.‘It was a costly venture, I grant you, but many, many lives will be saved because of its existence and because of the up-to-the-minute, high-tech equipment it enjoys.’
    ‘And what of the lives of the people who come here to the Ashvale Hospital, expecting first-rate treatment?’ She was warming to her subject, more than ready to tackle him head on. ‘How are they going to fare when we’re short of doctors and nurses simply because of the measures you’re about to take?’
    He didn’t answer straight away. Instead, he was thoughtful for a moment or two, taking his time in contrast to her quick-fire opposition. ‘All right, let’s look at that,’ he said. ‘I can understand perfectly well why you’re concerned. But let’s take an instance, shall we?’ He paused once more, thinking things through. ‘Suppose a child is brought here by ambulance, suffering from a severe, life-threatening asthma attack. How many people do you suppose would be involved in his care?’
    She thought about that. ‘The paramedics, a triage nurse, maybe the senior house officer and a paediatric nurse. There would be a consultant on call to oversee the situation.’
    ‘And between them you expect they would be able to resolve the child’s difficulties? They are all essential to the child’s well-being?’
    ‘I believe so, yes. Provided that they were able to access him quickly enough and give the right treatment, he should stand a good chance of recovery. That’s our job; that’s what we’re here for, after all. But if there is a breakdown in the chain of personnel brought about by staff shortages, or because people are too busy dealing with other life-threatening emergencies, I can see how things could go drastically wrong.’
    He nodded. ‘You’re right, of course. Having qualified people in place to deal with events as they occur is essential, and no one wants to see staff stretched to the limit, least of all me. But in our hypothetical situation, all the staff andequipment in the world might not have saved the boy…because without the necessary savings to the department, the A&E unit here would have been closed down, and the child would have been transported instead to the Heritage…a journey of a further fifteen miles or so. Given the time taken for that journey, the strong possibility is that he would not have survived.’
    There was a combined intake of breath amongst the doctors and nurses in the room as his point sliced home.
    Ruby frowned. That was not good. He couldn’t be allowed to persuade his audience to submit to his plans by laying out a worst-case scenario as if it were the accepted outcome.
    She sent him a direct, lancing stare. ‘Do you really think that argument is going to sway me, or anyone here? You’re planning to cut the tree off at the roots and afterwards you’ll inspect it every now and again to see if it somehow managed to survive.’ She shook her head. ‘There are other ways to make savings, which don’t involve shrinking your prime resource. For instance, you could take a closer look at some of the maintenance and