“If the health secretary wants to stop an unprecedented winter of NHS strikes, he knows what to do. It’s not rocket science. Give NHS workers a proper pay rise, that means they don’t have to use food banks or quit the service in droves.''
The Government do not intend to move on the current issue of NHS pay.
Exec Unions Meeting with Secretary of State, Rt Hon Steven Barclay. Department of Health & Social Care
Unions were invited to raise the main concerns of members and suggest ways that issues could be addressed. These issues included:
- Pay rates
- Staffing levels
- Retention of existing workforce
- Patient safety
- Living wage uplift of lowest paid
- Ambulance handover delays
- Unsocial hours
- Retirement age
- Agency spend
- Flexible working
- Opting out of the pension scheme
- Career progression and apprenticeships
- Job evaluation capacity to ensure right pay for the job
- Annual leave entitlements
- Breaks
- Unpaid additional hours
- Enforced overtime
- Stress, burnout, morale and mental health
- Social care blockages
Unions also expressed concerns about the independence of the PRB and our concerns that they prioritise ‘affordability’ over the evidence presented to them.
Unions advised that all of the above issues are linked with poor pay and remain committed to wanting to negotiate now on pay and in future. Only by addressing pay now will retention of staff be achieved.
Government advised that they were committed to working with unions on all of the above. But were unwilling to discuss pay. We await the date of another meeting.
Unions are continuing to ballot our members and prepare for action.
Joint Union Statement: 15 November 2022
Act on pay and help the NHS, staff and patients, say health unions
Unions representing more than a million staff working across the NHS have today (Tuesday) met with health secretary Steve Barclay to discuss the growing workforce crisis.
At the Westminster meeting this morning, the unions made clear that without urgent government action on wages, experienced health workers would continue to quit their jobs, and the NHS struggle to attract new staff in sufficient numbers.
Unions told the secretary of state that patient waits for treatment would carry on worsening, unless something was done about the dangerously low staffing levels affecting every part of the NHS.
Decent wages are key to stopping employees leaving and to turning the NHS into an attractive employer for potential recruits, the unions urged.
The unions also warned that threats to cap wages next year would do nothing to fill the 132,000 vacancies across the NHS in England alone and would make a desperate staffing situation significantly worse.
Ministers must act now, invest in staff and services with an inflation-proofed wage rise, or be responsible for disputes across the NHS this winter that no one wants to see, urged the unions.
Health unions await a date for the next meeting with the health secretary.
Commenting on today's meeting, UNISON head of health and chair of the NHS unions Sara Gorton said: "There can be no solution to the damaging workforce crisis unless the government improves NHS pay. Without the staff to provide essential care, patients face excessive and lengthening waits to be seen.
“Ministers must give the NHS urgent help and provide the cash for another wage rise. The alternative is multiple disputes in what could be the worst winter on record for the NHS. No one wants that. The government must try harder for all our sakes.”
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy assistant director and secretary of the NHS group of unions Elaine Sparkes said: “This is the first time that physiotherapy staff have been balloted over pay. This demonstrates how fearful they are about their ability to continue delivering high quality patient care if the government does not take urgent steps to address the workforce crisis.
"Those steps must start with improving pay and putting an urgent retention package in place because we cannot afford to lose more staff if the NHS is to meet its enormous challenges.”
Unite national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe said: “The government must put forward a better pay deal and one that is not funded from already mercilessly squeezed budgets.
“The truth is that NHS workers can’t carry on like this. Waiting lists are lengthening and healthcare staff are leaving in alarming numbers. Unite is determined to win a better deal for our members.”
GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “If the health secretary wants to stop an unprecedented winter of NHS strikes, he knows what to do.
“It’s not rocket science. Give NHS workers a proper pay rise, that means they don’t have to use food banks or quit the service in droves.
“By not paying staff properly, ministers are leaving the NHS unable to recruit and retain enough workers, putting patient safety at risk every day. Mr Barclay must listen to the concerns of health workers.”
Royal College of Midwives director for employment relations Alice Sorby said: “Our members do not take Industrial action lightly. Without urgent action to prevent the exodus of midwives, the staffing crisis in maternity services won’t be solved. There are almost 800 fewer midwives working in England’s NHS than at the last general election.
“Decent pay is absolutely key to retaining staff. We remain ready and willing to talk to the government about ways to retain staff through an urgent retention package. A proper pay award has to be central to this.”
RCN director of employment relations and legal services Jo Galbraith-Marten said: “We will only make progress through detailed discussions that seriously consider the concerns of nursing staff.
“Until the government recognises the need to pay nursing fairly, meetings will be ineffective. No nurse ever wants to strike, but we have been forced into this situation because low pay and workforce shortages are pushing nursing staff out of the profession and making care increasingly unsafe.
“Ministers can stop strike action by nursing staff at any point. Our door is always open.”
