'Staff don't really do it for the money'

The hospital manager

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Lynne Watson describes herself as a "lifer"– someone who's worked for the NHS her whole career and just won't get out. As a manager at Luton and Dunstable Hospital – a job she's held for two years – Mrs Watson presides over 2,300 staff and a range of developments that have rendered the grounds "a building site".

She insists the hospital is a success story. "Over the past few years there has been a huge investment – but to do any good it needs to be sustained. From what the Government was saying last week that is likely to be the case – so that's great."

It's not all good news. "We still have some difficulties with recruitment. We are able to recruit for the basic care nursing staff but there are problems with specialist nurses and some of the more senior nurses." And Mrs Watson is concerned that NHS staff should not become bogged down with an excess of bureaucracy.

While there has been money for nurses' salaries, she wants the Chancellor's £1bn windfall to be used for what she terms the "Cinderella" posts – the clerical staff, cleaners and caterers who work behind the scenes. But she believes NHS staff "don't really come to work for the money – they come because they want to help patients."

Mrs Watson thinks that as long as the money keeps pouring in and reaching the "coal face" the NHS can thrive as a tax-funded service. For herself, she says: "I am very committed to the NHS and this hospital and can't see myself moving out of the NHS." JD