Just days after Stepping Hill Hospital closed one ward and announced the loss of up to 400 staff the NHS hit the news nationally as this story from the BBC illustrates: NHS cuts ‘planned across England‘

Were the announced cuts from Stepping Hill rushed through before this hit the news and does this mean we face another round of cuts at Stepping Hill as part of this national review?

Clare Marx, the head of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) , warned that the NHS is heading back towards the “dark days” of long waiting times seen in the 1980s and 1990s with the worst shortage of hospital beds for 16 years pushing up waiting times, putting cancer patients at risk and leaving those in need of routine surgery, such as hip and knee replacements, suffering “excessive pain” and injury.

With Stepping Hill leading the way and making closures even before the government’s open debate on our NHS what does Stockport face next?

Update: The Manchester Evening News reports that changes at Stepping Hill so far, based on advice from KPMG  ( from 19 consultants costing £2.2 million ! ), add up to at least £11 million a year.

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