- Conference
- 2011 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 3 December 2010
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference is concerned that while many Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) have a positive experience of working for the NHS, some feel that they no longer have good career prospects and that there is a lack of training opportunities for AHPs. This means that therapists have limited chances to develop a wide range of skills which are not only useful to them but also enable them to deliver good quality services to patients.
As smaller groups of staff, AHPs have increasingly been targets during restructuring, commonly being amalgamated under a single line of management, removing management structures specific to the professions.
Conference expresses concern about the reductions to the Multi Professional Education Training (MPET) priorities and the impact that this will have for training on different parts of the workforce. Conference believes that there is a need to continue to invest in training to deliver a sustained workforce with the appropriate skills to deliver modern healthcare services.
Conference notes with some concern that the current financial difficulties are having a negative impact on the NHS-affecting staff morale, access to training, training budgets, career planning and progression opportunities. Job cuts and freezes within the NHS lead to a reduction in the number of jobs available for new graduates entering the health professions as well as limiting future training opportunities.
Conference believes that the NHS needs to attract and retain the best staff to ensure good quality therapy services to patients. One important means of doing this is to ensure the NHS provides job security, career planning and progression opportunities. This is not only of benefit to workers, but also allows for employers to allocate and plan staff resources which is especially important in the context of budget cuts and changes in legislation. The white paper ‘Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS’ says little about workforce planning. The plans for future commissioning of the workforce outlined in the White Paper are also a concern as there will no longer be a national overview of shortfalls or future forecasting.
This conference calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1)Lobby government about its plans on workforce planning as part of UNISON’s ‘Our NHS Our Future’ campaign;
2)Ensure that the importance of career planning and career progression for therapy staff is highlighted in UNISON’s ‘Our NHS Our Future’ campaign;
3)Continue to work with the national young members committee to develop appropriate literature and campaigning activities;
4)Gather evidence to establish what proportion of new therapy graduates and other health professionals are unable to secure jobs upon graduation;
5)Continue to press for decent training and career opportunities for all therapy staff within the NHS;
6)Call for branches to support AHP services when their services are under such attacks in order to ensure that AHPs have the opportunities for development that they should have but also in order that services to patients in the NHS continue to offer a high standard of care.