Doctors at a Merseyside Hospital are so concerned about the way it is being run they are balloting staff to gauge the depth of feeling, the BBC has learnt.

Concerns about Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral include worries that services are being moved out of the hospital and that there is a "climate of fear".

Although there are often grumbles within the NHS, it is highly unusual for consultants to take such action.

The NHS trust said it was in "active discussions" with the medical board.

The ballot is going on now. Morale is said to be very low at the hospital.
Disciplinary fears

The BBC has learnt that among the concerns of senior medical staff are plans to move vascular surgery from Birkenhead to Chester, even though there is a very good vascular department at Arrowe Park.

There is also a feeling among senior doctors that they are fearful of voicing their concerns to management - a worry they could end up in front of a disciplinary panel if they complain too loudly.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

The Trust Board is in active dialogue with both the Medical Board and the local negotiating committee in this respect”

End Quote NHS trust spokesperson

In a statement, the hospital's trust said: "Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust can advise that there is no formal ballot taking place in respect of a vote of no confidence in its chief executive.

"The Chair of the Medical Board within the trust is in the process of seeking the views of the Medical Board on a number of issues.

"The Trust Board is in active dialogue with both the Medical Board and the local negotiating committee in this respect."

The BBC has information that a number of senior medical staff have left the trust because of disagreements with management.

We have also been told that GPs in Wirral are concerned that there are changes at the hospital which the senior medical staff are unhappy with.

Our information is that the consultants at Arrowe Park have organised their own ballot to test just how strongly they feel about how the hospital is being run.

The ballot paper had three questions, including one of which asked whether the doctors believed senior managers listened to them properly or not.

The ballot is continuing, though some doctors have voted already.

In a further statement, the trust said disagreement on crucial health care issues was inevitable and it was indicative of a healthy organisation that staff had the facility to voice it.

The trust said if vascular surgery did move to Chester, 150 patients a year would have a longer journey to hospital, but would have better outcomes after treatment.

The trust also said that it followed national NHS guidelines in respect of disciplinary matters.

Source

The "BBC has learnt" usually means somebody is telling them behind the bike sheds, the BBC is a left wing Labour mouthpiece so all I see is an extension of the attacks the coalition is getting, good or bad we can only afford what the taxes bring in, we can't afford "director of eating carrots" type non jobs that Labour/unions brought in, if the hospital does have problems then the doctors and nurses should be in the lead resolving them, if jobs are to go then the admin management shouldn't be the ones making the decisions, now you can kick me.

Could you point me in the direction of anything to actually back up that opinion?
Over the years the political left have often accused the BBC of reinforcing the established status quo, whilst the political right have accused it of being too liberal. BBC news is arguably the largest most impartial news media network in the world, (except maybe CBC), with political neutrality written into the tenets of it's existence. If it favoured one political viewpoint over another it would have been destroyed many times over when it's opposers were voted into power. I'm scouring that news report for anything to link the story to a political persuasion, and I can't see anything.

http://www.biased-bbc.blogspot.com/
Question time last week was watchable, the other weeks, it's tories are the nasty party,time for it to be sold off and the licence laws repealed, if they are that nice and cuddley they should be able to go it alone without the 3billion we are forced to pay on the pain of going to court if we don't have a licence for a tv.

There is nothing impartial about that website. That is David Vance's hobby horse blog of rabid, right wing musings that borders uncomfortably on fascism. It makes the Daily Mail look like the cuddly home of loony lefty-tree hugging-jihad/fag enablers. On of the joys of the internet is that any knobhead who can type, can post their opinions on the WWW without any measure of temperance, no matter how biased or unfounded which, coincidentally, is something the BBC cannot.

Even before it's happened....
What the mans beef with Aberdeen is I have no idea, it seems he doesn't even like locations where the BBC has the temerity to outside broadcast from.

If that's where your forming your opinions on the BBC, or life in general, then I can see no point in further discussion.

One question, if there are thoughts on moving a surgical procedure from Arrow Park, why move it outside the WIRRAL. The people of WIRRAL have already seen ward closures at both Arrow and Claterbridge hospitals.