Trust and mistrust

The hospital might close this week, but this is not another case of an empty purse, shoulders shrugged, and operations cancelled, but a decision by the porters, after weeks of vacillation, to finally hold a strike ballot.

Abstract

The hospital might close this week. At least, one of the largest and oldest clinical institutions in the country may soon only accept patients with life threatening conditions. Just three weeks since acquiring trust status and the start of the financial year, this is not another case of an empty purse, shoulders shrugged, and operations cancelled, but a decision by the porters, after weeks of vacillation, to finally hold a strike ballot. Threats by union leaders, widely reported by the local media, to close the hospital may be no more than political hyperbole, with a weather eye cast …