Health

Addicts in desperate need of treatment may revert to crime if health bosses carry out plans to hand responsibility for drug treatment programmes to private firms.

That is according to a senior source at Harrow Primary Care Trust (PCT), who says plans are in the pipeline to commission out the services in a bid to cut costs - raising fears the quality of the provision will be compromised.

The whistleblower approached the Observer because of growing concerns that drug users will no longer get the attention they desperately need and that drug-related crime could rise as a result.

The source said: "If all the services are put out for tender it is likely that voluntary groups will run substance misuse programmes for a lot less money.

"These services do offer decent treatment, of course, but they have a history of having lower standards because they don't have to meet the same government criteria.

"Because of this they are not required to hire staff with greater qualifications and are therefore, comparatively, less qualified to deal with these vulnerable patients."

If these plans do go ahead, the doctor says staff who currently work within the service will be moved or redeployed, not necessarily within the same field, and crucial relationships with users will be lost.

They added: "Statistics show that the best kind of treatment for drug users comes when they deal with the same person on a regular basis.

"If staff are moved around, this rapport will be lost and, therefore, so will the effectiveness of the treatment.

"If this happens then more drug users face failing to deal with their problems and potentially there will be higher levels of crime in the area."

The medic added that at present there are seven programmes set to go out to tender, used by 642 people, according to the latest figures - many of them for the use of drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.

Campaigners will launch a protest against proposed NHS budget cuts next week - which have left hundreds of hospital workers facing the axe.

It was announced last week that North West London Hospital Trust, which runs Northwick Park and St Mark's Hospitals in Harrow, as well as Central Middlesex Hospital in Park Royal, will have it's annual budget slashed by as much as £32million.

Protesters are concerned the 10 per cent cut will be too great a burden on hospitals like Northwick Park and are worried sacking staff will put lives at risk.

Spokeswoman for action group Campaign to Defend Brent Healthcare Services Sarah Cox hopes thousands will come out to voice their concerns, when they protest on Valentine's Day at Central Middlesex Hospital.

She said: "The cuts being proposed are a massive worry to everyone. If redundancies are made to frontline staff or adequate training can no longer be afforded to all workers then standards will obviously slip.

"Standards of care are barely reaching acceptable levels as it is and hospitals like Northwick Park have hardly had the best publicity in recent times.

"Taking away invaluable funds won't help the current situation."

Although it is not clear how many of the 4,200 strong workforce will be axed at this stage, trust boss Fiona Wise said: "As pay accounts for a large proportion of costs we will be looking at making some changes to our workforce."

The chief executive's own salary is £160,000 a year.

She added: "We will be reassuring staff there are ways in which this can be done without making large-scale redundancies, such as through natural turnover, redeployment, flexible retirement, voluntary reduction in hours, controlling expenditure of temporary staff, flexible working and reducing sickness.

"We cannot rule out reductions in the number of posts but specific details (where and how many) have not been decided as yet.

"Any redundancies would be considerably less than 400, it will always be a last resort."

Branch secretary of Unison, the largest union for hospital workers, Peter Nzekwe, said: "To be honest, the news came as a massive shock to me.

"Everybody is nervous about their futures but at the moment we just have to wait and see what happens."

Members of Unison and Campaign to defend Brent healthcare services will stage their protest from 12 noon at Central Middlesex Hospital on February 14.

Breast cancer may have gone undetected in women across Harrow after it emerged the screening process was not up to scratch.

In board papers released last month Harrow Primary Care Trust (PCT) slammed Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital, which is commissioned to carry out routine mammograms, because it was failing to hit targets.

As it stands the hospital in Enfield carries out screening for Harrow women aged between 50 and 70 who have free scheduled screens every three years as part of a national NHS programme.

However, the minutes of the recent paper said the hospital is failing to see as many patients as expected.

It also condemns the quality of the process and suggests that screening standards were not being met either.

It reads: "There is a real issue of the local population experiencing a poor breast screening service, comparative to the national level.

"Local residents are not being screened properly or to proper standards, which is unacceptable.

"Breast screening continues to be under-trajectory and a letter has been written to the current provider of this service notifying them that Harrow PCT will look into providing this service locally if it is not improved substantially."

Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital argued that the standard checks alluded to in the meeting were made a long time ago and that more recent processes show the service has improved.

But uptake is still under-trajectory as the hospital is still working to undertake more screenings.

A spokeswoman said: "There have been no issues of any clinical concerns and the North London Breast Screening Service continues to meet all Quality Assurance and clinical standards.

"Following a recent visit by the Quality Assurance Team, Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust is being held up as an example of good practice for other Breast Screening units to follow.

"The North London Breast Screening Service is keeping to the agreed screening timetable and is working pro-actively with all PCTs, including Harrow PCT, to minimise any delays and to improve uptake and coverage.

"Proposals for new screening sites have been made and discussions are being held to ensure that the screening timetable can be achieved."

A dietitian will be hosting talks with her top tips on staying healthy during Ramadan.

Community dietitian Salma Mehar from Northwick Park Hospital, in Watford Road, will be hosting talks at Harrow Central Mosque on August 22 and 29 after Juma prayer with the final talk will be in Urdu.