- Conference
- 2007 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 20 December 2006
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes with alarm the savage reductions in staffing levels of donor collection staff and the closure of processing centres.
The reduction of staff in teams has meant consistent understaffing, leading to stress, extended working days with the resultant damage to personal and family life.
Whilst UNISON recognises the fall in demand for blood, it is vital that NHS Blood and Transplant management recognise that the collection process has become more labour intensive with smaller collection sessions and a more extensive process for donors.
Therefore, there is no validity in the simplistic argument that staffing levels need to be reduced in line with demand. In fact with the service struggling to meet minimum safe stock levels, any further attack on staffing levels would not only aggravate the stress already imposed on staff but would represent a reckless act that risks tipping service provision into crisis.
Conference calls on the SGE, working with the NHS Blood and Transplant Forum to:
1)Press for a review of policy on staffing-to-donor ratios;
2)Resist any attempts to further reduce collection posts;
3)Support members at regional centres in their fight to retain jobs.