Hospital Cuts are a Bitter Pill to Swallow For Inner City Areas

9.36.07pm GMT Wed 10th Nov 2004

Councillors Alan Taylor and Javaid Akhtar (Lib Dem, Gipton & Harehills) are worried about the impact that efficiency savings within Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will have on the communities surrounding Leeds' main hospitals.

Cllr Taylor said "St James' Hospital is one of the biggest employers in the area, so the freeze on recruitment that the management of the Hospital have decided on is extremely worrying. Unemployment is amongst the highest in Leeds in Burmantofts, Harehills and Gipton - so this announcement is very bad news indeed".

Cllr Akhtar said "The news that dozens of hospital beds are to be axed is bad enough news, but the job cuts hit regeneration areas hardest. We know the Trust has to balance its books, but why have things been allowed to get to the stage where such drastic measures are needed?"