Who do people see when they think of NHS staff?
Probably doctors, nurses and paramedics. But there are hundreds of thousands of people working in non-clinical support roles as part of one NHS team to deliver excellent patient care, both directly and indirectly.
After all, where would our NHS be without the porters who move patients, cleaners who keep wards safe, catering staff who offer nutritious meals, laundry staff who keep infection at bay, security staff who make everyone safe, maintenance staff who make sure essential equipment works, and admin staff who keep the whole show on the road?
One Team Awards
In autumn 2023 we launched our very first One Team Awards, to honour members who deserve recognition for their work in non-clinical and operational services support roles. We received nearly 800 nominations, so a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate a colleague!
Our judging panel met on 5 March 2024 to select the three winners, and you can read about them here:
How does UNISON campaign for NHS support staff?
As the main union for support staff across the NHS, UNISON believes it is time that members of the public and politicians understand the role they play in delivering quality patient care. We think it’s unfair that they don’t get the recognition they so clearly deserve.
- We promote the message that all staff, no matter what they do, play an important part in caring for patients.
- We campaign to ensure that the NHS and its staff remain in the public sector.
- We campaign to remove the false divide when politicians talk about ‘frontline’ and ‘back office’ NHS staff.
- We promote the value of our support staff by campaigning against any attacks which attempt to devalue the work they do and underplay the role they play in patient care.
Join today so that you have a voice in the largest union in the NHS and can be part of our campaign.
