- Conference
- 2016 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 20 January 2016
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the Partnership agreement between UNISON and NHSBT signed at the end of 2015 where UNISON agreed to promote and publicise amongst its members the organ donation register and the blood donation service.
UNISON agreed to support NHSBT as the values it is built on are the founding values of the NHS. Ordinary people in society helping others by donating blood or their organs to help others. These are values that embody the best of the public services but in stark contrast to the actions of this government which are privatising NHS services and handing more and more work to the private profit making sector.
It is not just that the private sector cannot manage or run services any better than the public sector but it is the awful and plainly wrong philosophy being pursued by this government allowing their friends in big business to make a profit from health care that we condemn unreservedly. NHSBT remains a public service employer built on free donations and UNISON proudly supports this and promotes its philosophy .
We may however as a Union from time to time have disagreements with NHSBT about how it is running these services. Our members and branches in Sheffield and Newcastle opposed the closures of manufacturing facilities by NHSBT in those two cities ( and their consolidation in Manchester) because we do not think that such consolidation is right or safe for the NHS.
Conference will continue to support its members affected by closure in these cities and continue to campaign publicly to try and get this decision taken by the board of NHSBT reversed.