Debt-hit NHS removes light bulbs


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About 40 light bulbs have been taken down in hospital corridors to help a debt-ridden NHS trust save money.

Epsom and St Helier NHS, which needs to save ?24m over 18 months, said it would only know how much cash it would save when it got its next electric bill.

It said some bulbs had been removed from corridors and communal areas and no clinical areas were affected. The trust's annual electric bill is ?3m.

Tom Brake MP said the "crazy" move would be funny were it not so serious.

Patients will be left scratching their heads in the dark

Tom Baker MP

He said: "If our hospitals are scrimping money on light bulbs, how can they afford the latest drugs and high quality patient care?"

The Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington said: "Patients will be left scratching their heads in the dark about this bonkers idea."

A trust statement said: "We can confirm maintenance staff have removed some light bulbs from the main corridors and some communal areas in the

trust, as part of our financial recovery plan."

Energy efficiency bid

It said it was "imperative" for the trust to cut its electric bill after "significant price hikes" in the past year.

It added that it had been given funding by the strategic health authority to explore lighting and heating controls, so energy efficiency could be improved.

The trust is also bidding for further funds to explore energy efficiency measures.

The trust run two hospitals, Epsom General Hospital in Epsom, and St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, south London. It provides community services across south west London and Surrey.

Source: BBC News

So they've resorted to removing light bulbs to save debt, holy crap!:|:|

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Geeze what about motion sensing lights, the turn on as you enter a room? Oh, how about giving generic drugs instead of name brand? Or selling cheap food in the caf... wait that one is done already. How about other things, like chairty sales, etc?

Geeze one or two lightbulbs being removed won't solve ?24m of debt! It may save ?1000 but that's abt it.

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Errm. Energy Saving Lightbulbs anyone? :blink:

That would be a pretty big investment to replace all the bulbs with energy saving versions in the short term which they don't have funds to do. That would be a more long term solution in replacing with energy efficient bulbs as standard bulbs burn out natuarally.

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