Why NHS staff should #DitchTheDeal & reject the government pay offer

This article was originally published on OurNHS/OpenDemocracy during the 2018 pay dispute.

The government is offering NHS staff a 6.5% pay rise, after almost a decade of pay freezes and 1% pay rises. With an NHS in almost permanent crisis and near collapse, this appears like a good thing, but when compared with the reality of the present state of the NHS, it’s a poisoned chalice that union members should reject.

Thoughts on the RCN Safestaffing campaign

On April 18th I attended the London Region conference for the RCN safe staffing campaign. I was surprised at how small the conference was, with only 30-40 spaces for members to attend when RCN London's membership is well over 60,000.

Still it was a promising initiative that showed the RCN leadership is trying to do things differently and move away from the top down approach of running things that has exemplified their campaigns for the last several years.

Disaster Postponed - Labour and the Brexit Crisis

The “flextension” granted to the UK government has brought a temporary reprieve from the Brexit crisis. The government and opposition now have until October 31st to find a Brexit agreement which can be agreed by the European Union, or find another way to resolve the crisis, either by holding a referendum on the deal or revoking Article 50. However the problems which created the crisis remain, and there are many obstacles to a parliamentary resolution.

Why Unite Health should start a consultative national ballot for strike action

This discussion document was shared with the Unite Health National Industrial Sector Committee (NISC) ahead of our January 18th meeting. The motion was put to the NISC to begin a consultative (indicative) ballot for industrial action and was defeated 6-12. The majority felt that with pay negotiations expected to return a deal in February, and consultation with members to take place in March or April, now was not the time to undertake an indicative ballot, and that this would put Unite negotiators in a difficult position with the government. I disagree with this assessment, but we will have to continue the discussion, and await the outcome of negotiations before any further decisions are taken on the matter.

Unite must call strike action against the Pay Cap, and unite with the RCN in its fight

It is welcome news that the government is planning to life the pay cap on public sector employees. This has been reported across various media outlets as a major concession, but the details point to this being a very weak offer, with little substance in reality. The pay cap would be removed with an offer of a 2.6% pay rise in line with inflation, and some wage rises targeted at professions which are struggling to recruit and retain; mainly nurses and teachers.

This 2.6% would do little to redress the 10-15% reduction in pay public sector workers have endured over the last decade, and would do little for the lowest paid, for who 2.6% of an already low wage is a marginal amount. 

Unite should take the lead in rejecting this meagre offer, demand a serious pay rise from the government, and back this up with the threat of sustained industrial action. That the government is offering this amount at all is a sign of their weakness. Much more could be achieved by applying public pressure to them via strike action. Now is the time to act.

Day 10 and 11 SAMS Global Response: last days

Day 10 started with the penultimate Project Awesome session. We did push ups, sit ups, burpees and ran lengths of the grass before heading back to the hotel for breakfast and the morning briefing.

After the briefing we had a team leaders meeting, to try and work out issues we were having at the camp. Previously we had been feeding back problems to Alison the Medical Coordinator, but she was a bit overwhelmed and we realised it was quicker and simpler, and reduced her workload if the team leaders met each day to brainstorm common problems occurring in clinics. We identified lack of translations for patients at hospitals, and lack of guidelines for treatment or management of common conditions as pressing issues. It was also thought that team leader meetings would help new team leaders with handover and ensure better continuity given the regularly changing stream of volunteers.

Day 9 SAMS Global Response

Another frustrating morning in clinic. Patients we had referred to hospital came back to us saying they had been treated by a humiliating fashion, laughed at and their needs not paid attention to. A woman sent for a neurology review due to constant migraines was instead given a chest X-Ray and sent away with antibiotics. After breaking down crying in the hospital at being treated like this, an Arabic speaker had noticed her and directed her to the right department, but the damage had been done. Dr Mohammed had to console the woman on her return to camp, and placate her furious husband who was declaring he would rather go back to Turkey or Syria than endure this. Mohammed reckoned it was prejudiced beliefs - that all the refugees had TB - that led to the woman being treated this way.

A big problem is lack of translators in the hospitals. Dropping people off for blood tests is fine. When people need a complex examination or consultation, language is a huge barrier. MSF has cultural liaison officers (translators by another name) in three of the four main hospitals, but they aren't always available, or are needed by too many patients.