Heidi Alexander
Use attributes for filter ! | |
Gender | Female |
---|---|
Age | 49 |
Date of birth | April 17,1975 |
Zodiac sign | Aries |
Born | Swindon |
United Kingdom | |
Spouse | Martin Ballantyne |
Party | Labour Party |
Previous office | Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom (2010–2018) |
Job | Politician |
Previous position | Deputy Mayor of London for Transport (2018–2021) |
Education | Durham University |
Mayor | Sadiq Khan |
Date of Reg. | |
Date of Upd. | |
ID | 402218 |
Heidi Alexander Life story
Heidi Alexander is a British politician who served as Deputy Mayor of London for Transport from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament for Lewisham East from 2010 to 2018. Alexander served as Shadow Secretary of State for Health from 2015 to 2016.
Swindon hospital pays record £2,549 for nursing shift
By Ollie Pritchard-JonesBBC News
A west of England hospital paid a record £2,549 for a single agency nursing shift, it has been revealed.
Great Western NHS Trust, which runs Great Western Hospital, is among one in every six trusts to pay over £2,000 for an agency shift, data has shown.
It Comes as the NHS contends with a record 47,000 nursing vacancies among 132,000 in total.
The Trust said rates are not capped so agencies " are largely free to charge what they want".
A spokeswoman said it meant costs " can be expensive, particularly when we need to cover shifts which require enhanced support such as Mental Health nurses or cover for bank Holidays - as was the case on this occasion".
The Trust has focused efforts on recruiting to its internal agency Bank, " which gives staff the opportunity to Pick Up more shifts and invites local people to work flexibly for the organisation, reducing our dependence on agency workers" she added.
Strike actionIt emerged just days after Royal College of Nursing members.
The data, released by Labour after a Freedom of Information request, also revealed to agencies that provide doctors and nurses on short notice.
This represents a 20% rise on Last Year , when the health service spent £2. 4bn, it said.
Health trusts spent a further £6bn on bank staff, when NHS staff are paid to do temporary shifts, taking the total spend to around £9. 2bn.
Heidi Alexander , Labour's parliamentary candidate for South Swindon, said responsibility for the payouts lay " squarely" with the government.
She Said it needed " to get a grip of the agencies that are making a killing out of this crisis".
The Hospital trust said it has " initiated a safer staffing programme, committing over £2m on the recruitment and retention of staff in roles across The Trust and we have made good progress in filling vital positions, including in registered and unregistered nursing".
" What is clear though is that this is in the context of a national shortage of nursing staff and a very challenging environment for the workforce at This Time , " it added.
The government has been contacted for comment.
Source of news: bbc.com