Staff nurses demand clarity after Suffolk's 'political spin' row

Why it matters: Community staff nurses have been told their jobs are not guaranteed, even after Suffolk County Council announced a £1.4m investment to save the role from the axe following public backlash.

What's new: One staff nurse, who asked to be kept anonymous, said they were informed by senior officers at a briefing that their jobs were not safe – despite initially welcoming Monday's announcement.

• The nurse said the council "refused to answer whether all staff nurses are saved."
• "It isn't as clear as staff nurses have been saved at all," they said. "Nurses need to know if their jobs were saved – we need clarity, and that's not what we're getting at the moment."
• They said the announcement seemed like nothing but "political spin."
• Asked directly whether the changes meant all staff nurses would keep their jobs, the council said detailed staffing arrangements would only be worked through after cabinet's decision and a separate staff consultation.

Community staff nurses set to be saved after consultation

Suffolk County Council has revised its plans for children's health services to retain community staff nurses, after the proposal to axe the role became the biggest concern raised in a major public consultation. But Ipswich MP Jack Abbott remains "incredibly concerned" that cuts are still coming.

Ipswich.co.ukJon Moran

The details: The U-turn forms part of fresh changes to the council's Healthy Child Programme, which provides services for children, young people and families, to be presented to cabinet on Tuesday, 10 November.

• The authority had originally proposed scrapping community staff nurses as part of a wider shake-up of children's health services.
• Opposition to the plans included a petition with nearly 3,000 signatures and hundreds of formal consultation responses.
• The changes are being brought forward amid concerns that the service's current model is unsustainable, with costs set to reach £18.6m by 2029.

What they're saying: Councillor June Mummery, cabinet member for coastal affairs, communities and public health, said the authority had listened to feedback.

"The message could not have been clearer," she said. "I wasn't prepared to ignore that. I pushed hard for us to look again at the proposals and find another way forward."

The funding row: Mummery said Suffolk was "near the bottom of the pecking order" for government funding, adding: "That means Suffolk is being asked to deliver the same outcomes as other areas with less money. It means every decision is harder than it should be."

She said she was disappointed in Suffolk's MPs and called on them to support the council's campaign for fairer funding.

The other side: Ipswich MP Jack Abbott responded, saying: "Of course, I will keep demanding more for Suffolk, but the reality is that our grant went up 5.2% in total over eight years, 2016 to 2024, while prices rose by about a third.

"Then, under our Government, it went up 5.7% in a single year, 2025/26. That's evidently a big change in approach."

For context: The announcement comes days after cabinet member Christopher Hudson was stripped of his role as highways chief, following backlash over an AI-generated image of Mummery that referenced the council's approach to cuts in the school nursing service – part of the same package of changes due before cabinet.

Hudson stripped of cabinet role amid Mummery deepfake row

Suffolk County Council has removed Reform UK councillor Christopher Hudson from his cabinet role as highways chief, hours after a backlash over an AI-generated image of a fellow councillor and a string of sexual comments attributed to his X account.

Ipswich.co.ukOliver Rouane-Williams

What's next: Subject to cabinet approval and a separate staff consultation early next year, the new model would go live in July 2027, consolidating programmes including the Family Nurse Partnership and Young Parents Pathway, and moving school nursing to a more targeted model requiring £3.7m of yearly investment.

The bottom line: Suffolk County Council insists it has listened to residents and staff over its nursing U-turn, but with jobs still not guaranteed and staffing arrangements yet to be worked out, nurses say they are no closer to the clarity they need.

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