Striking to lose – problems facing the NHS industrial action

Note: This article was written before the decision to call off local government strikes by UNISON, Unite and GMB.

The media is widely reporting the decision by NHS unions to stage the first strike over pay in 32 years. Contrary to the media reports, this action is not the result of widespread frustration over poor pay deals, but the fact that health unions finally decided to ballot their members for action, after 32 years of accepting pay deals. NHS staff have had 4 years of a pay freeze, and the 1% pay offer withdrawn by the government was only the latest in a long line of injustices heaped on NHS workers, including privatisations, cuts and scapegoating for the failures of government policy.

What is different now is the context; the NHS unions are facing both anger from their memberships, and a crisis of legitimacy. UNISON, UNITE and the RCN have presided over the wholesale destruction of the NHS at the hands of the Tory government. While UNITE has been willing to act oppositionally, backing community campaigns and local demonstrations, the leaderships of UNISON and the RCN have been completely acquiescent to the governments agenda, the RCN even collaborating with the government over the Health and Social Care Bill.

With this legacy behind them the, withdrawal of the governments pay offer forced the unions to ballot over pay in order to shore up their credibility, and maintain the appearance of opposition to the government after allowing their members to take a kicking for the last 4 years with no serious attempts at confronting the governments agenda.

Cameron’s plan for 7 day a week GP access is an empty populist pledge

Reaction to David Cameron’s pledge of 7 day a week GP access from co-leader Dr Clive Peedell  (below) and London GP, Dr Louise Irvine.

NHA’s Dr Louise Irvine, London GP and prospective parliamentary candidate for SW Surrey, the seat of Jeremy Hunt:

“This is utter nonsense. It is an empty populist pledge. Many of the pilot schemes that he claims have been a success haven’t even got off the ground, so where’s the evidence that they are effective?​

£100 million cannot even begin to make up for the loss of funding to maintain existing GP services never mind extending them to 7 days.

£100 million is about £2/person/year. For an average GP practice of 6000 patients that means an extra £12000 a year. For that the practice would have to be open 60% longer than currently (from 52.5 hours to 84 hours a week) and pay doctors, nurses and admin staff to be there. That would be approximately 1500 extra hours a year – £8 for every extra hour opened. That would not even pay for a receptionist for the surgery never mind the medical staff to provide the service.

This is a bad joke and shows how disdainful the Tories are of ordinary people and their health services. Instead of recognising and tackling the real crisis in general practice – not enough GPs, £1 billion of funding cuts to GP services over past 5 years and a recruitment crisis where young doctors are not choosing general practice and older ones are retiring early – Cameron is pretending that if you give a measly £100 million that will somehow sort the problems in general practice.

National Health Action Party - Support for NHS Strike

Statement from the National Health Action Party

Health workers in England are to stage a four-hour strike on 13 October, the Unison union has announced.Up to half a million NHS staff could take part in the strike action over pay, after being denied a 1% salary rise by the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, despite a recommendation by the independent Pay Review Body. It will be the first NHS strike in 32 years.

Statement from Dr Clive Peedell, co-leader of the National Health Action Party:

“We can’t run the NHS without suitable staff, we can’t improve the NHS without more staff, and we can’t recruit staff if pay keeps falling behind inflation and comparable jobs.

“The nationally agreed pay system established in the last decade is now under sustained attack. It’s outrageous that Jeremy Hunt has refused even a meagre 1% pay rise for many NHS staff. It’s also disingenuous to claim there has to be a choice between paying staff at agreed rates and inflicting savage cuts, especially when those cuts flow from the 5-year spending freeze brought in by his government.

“The fact that NHS staff have been driven to take strike action speaks volumes for the damaging, morale-sapping policies this government has inflicted on them.

For these reasons, we support this strike action.”