Category: Sara Gorton

Strike vote is loud wake-up call to the government, says UNISON  

Commenting on the likelihood of strikes across the NHS this winter following the Royal College of Nursing ballot, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:

“This is loud a wake-up call to the government. Hundreds of thousands more nurses, paramedics, cleaners, health care assistants and other NHS employees are still to decide if they’ll be striking for better pay and staffing. Now is the time for swift action to avoid a damaging dispute.

“A strike across the NHS this winter isn’t inevitable. Unions want to work with ministers to solve the NHS staffing crisis and its impact on patient care. But that must start with another pay rise for health workers. Otherwise, delays and waits for patients won’t reduce.

“A second wage increase in line with rising prices would ensure staff can provide for their families. It would also stop experienced employees leaving so the NHS can keep caring for patients.

“Inflation has already wiped out this year’s 72p an hour increase. Threats of wage caps next year to make good the damage caused by the previous government’s economic incompetence will only make a bad situation significantly worse.

“NHS managers are fighting a losing battle. They know pay and the lack of staff are the main reasons why health workers are leaving at alarming rates. The NHS cannot keep patients safe without improving staffing levels. Boosting pay is a crucial first step in dealing with the NHS workforce crisis.

“The government must put pay right to spare the NHS, its staff, and all those relying on its care, from a dispute no one wants to see.”

Note to editors:
– In July, the government in Westminster announced that most NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts (NHS terms and conditions) in England would get a pay rise of £1,400, in line with the recommendation of the NHS pay review body. This amounted to a 4.75% increase to the NHS pay bill. Health workers had been due a wage rise on 1 April 2022. Health workers in Wales got the same award. The health minister in Northern Ireland said he wanted to implement the same award but could not do so due to the political stalemate. This means NHS workers there have had no pay rise at all. In Scotland, UNISON has been balloting its 50,000 health members recommending rejection of a 5% offer from the Edinburgh government. But following an improved offer last month of a £2,205 flat-rate increase, UNISON’s health committee in Scotland decided to suspend its strike ballot. That offer is currently being put to UNISON members in a digital consultative ballot that closes next week. UNISON’s ballot of health staff working for more than 250 NHS employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland launched on 25 October. That vote closes in Northern Ireland on 18 November, and a week later (25 November) in England and Wales.
– UNISON and most other health unions had called for an above-inflation pay rise in their submission to the NHS pay review body.
– Other unions either balloting or planning to ballot for industrial action in the NHS include the Royal College of Midwives, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, GMB and Unite.
– To achieve a legal strike ballot, UK law requires unions to jump a variety of hurdles. In addition to requiring 50% of the workers being balloted to participate in any vote, the law demands that in very important public services, like many parts of the NHS, 40% of those sent ballot papers must vote yes. Unions are also unable to conduct strike ballots electronically. All ballot papers must be sent out in the mail and returned by post.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contact:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Strike vote is loud wake-up call to the government, says UNISON   first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Ministers should be ashamed that NHS staff are having to use food banks, says UNISON

Commenting on the NHS Providers cost of living survey published today (Friday), UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “It’s like the UK has gone back to Victorian times, when workers were so poor, they couldn’t feed their families.

“Some health employees are now so hard up, they can’t survive without help from their employers. This is a shocking state of affairs. Ministers should be ashamed that things have come to this.

“The government should be raising the wages of health workers above the cost of living. This would help keep the wolf from the door and enable the NHS to hold onto experienced staff.

“Instead, the Prime Minister’s reckless gamble threatens the very future of the NHS. Any squeeze on funding or freeze on wages could see so many staff heading for the door that services are no longer able to function. It’s small wonder there’s growing support for strike action by health workers.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON starts balloting NHS workers in Scotland over possible strike action next week, and in England at the end of next month.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Ministers should be ashamed that NHS staff are having to use food banks, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Fee rise for stretched NHS workers is unfair and misjudged, says UNISON

Paramedics, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners and many other health professionals could see the fee allowing them to practise rise by an “unfair” 20% next year, warns UNISON today (Friday).

In a consultation that opened this week, the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), which regulates 15 professions in the health sector, has proposed an increase in its compulsory annual registration fee from £98.12 to £117.74.

UNISON says the rise is unfair and disproportionate, especially during the biggest income squeeze in a generation. The 2021 increase saw fees jump 9% from £90 to £98.12.

If this latest increase goes ahead as planned, overall fees will have increased by almost half (47%) since 2014, while pay continues to fall far short of inflation, says UNISON. The union intends to oppose the plans in its consultation response.

UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “Proposing such a steep rise when health workers are struggling to pay for basics is seriously misjudged and simply unfair. Paramedics, occupational therapists and operating department practitioners have no choice but to pay the fee to practise.

“This additional expense can be avoided. The council must come up with better ways to support registrants, so fees don’t feel like a tax on work.”

Notes to editors
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
– The HCPC regulates 15 professions: arts therapists, biomedical scientists, podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, hearing aid dispensers, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists, prosthetists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists.
– If the rise goes ahead, it will take effect from July 2023.

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Fee rise for stretched NHS workers is unfair and misjudged, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Delayed, disappointing pay rise will leave staff considering their futures, say health unions

Health unions representing more than a million NHS staff in England have ?reacted with dismay to the NHS pay rise of £1,400 announced today (Tuesday) by the government.

UNISON head of health and chair of the ?NHS group of unions Sara Gorton said: “This is nowhere ?near what’s needed to save the NHS.

“Demoralised ?and depleted health workers needed to know that ministers are serious about solving the staffing crisis and investing in the future. The way to do that was through a significant pay award.

“With the pandemic barely behind us and the growing cost-of-living catastrophe, NHS staff, their bank accounts ?and health services are all running on empty.

“The government’s shown it’s prepared to sit by and watch waiting lists grow, ambulance call times ?lengthen and patient suffering increase.

“Many will be seriously considering industrial action after this pitiful increase and a majority of the public will be behind them.

?”Ministers can’t continue to allow wages to fall and expect staff still ?to be there. The simple formula for recruiting and retaining enough staff to tackle the treatment backlog ?and avoiding a damaging dispute is to ensure NHS workers have a decent pay rise. ?This isn’t it.”

Assistant director at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and secretary of the ?NHS group of unions Elaine Sparkes said: “NHS workers have made it clear that a pay award like this is nowhere near enough in the current climate, being substantially less than the current and predicted level of inflation.

“We’ve told the government that – as have tens of thousands of people who took to the streets last month demanding a fair deal for workers.

“But still it presses on with an award that will cut the real value of take home pay for ?health staff and potentially put patient care at risk as the workforce crisis in the NHS deepens.

“Health unions will now consult members on what action they wish to take to ensure the extraordinary efforts of NHS staff are fairly rewarded.”

Notes to editors:
– The 13 NHS unions are: British Association of Occupational Therapists, British Dietetic Association, British Orthoptic Society, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Royal College of Podiatry, Federation of Clinical Scientists, GMB, Managers in Partnership, Prison Officers Association, Royal College of Midwives, Society of Radiographers, UNISON and Unite.
– Health workers were due a pay rise on 1 April 2022 after their previous one-year deal expired. This award is for NHS staff in England.
– The health unions had called for an above-inflation pay rise in their submission to the NHS pay review body. The government had proposed a 3% increase.
– All NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts (NHS terms and conditions) in England will get a consolidated pay rise of £1,400. This package amounts to a 4.75% increase to the NHS Agenda For Change pay bill.

The article Delayed, disappointing pay rise will leave staff considering their futures, say health unions first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Health staff risk being driven out by unfair mileage rates and new parking charges, says UNISON     

This is not a good time to be an NHS worker struggling on a budget. The article Health staff risk being driven out by unfair mileage rates and new parking charges, says UNISON      first appeared on...