Commenting on new figures published today (Thursday) showing waiting lists for routine treatment in England have hit an all-time high, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:
“The NHS is in danger of reaching the point of no return. Waiting lists will simply not improve unless ministers address chronic under-staffing. Improving pay would make an immediate difference. Without a decent wage rise, health workers will continue to leave and patients suffer.
“NHS staff are voting yes to strike for the sake of patients and a better NHS. But a damaging dispute can be avoided.
“The government must start talks to put pay right, solve the workforce crisis and tackle the ever-growing backlog.”
Notes to editors:
– In July, the government in Westminster announced that most NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts (NHS terms and conditions) in England would get a pay rise of £1,400, in line with the recommendation of the NHS pay review body. This amounted to a 4.75% increase to the NHS pay bill. Health workers had been due a wage rise on 1 April 2022. Health workers in Wales got the same award. The health minister in Northern Ireland said he wanted to implement the same award but could not do so due to the political stalemate. This means NHS workers there have had no pay rise at all. In Scotland, UNISON has been balloting its 50,000 health members recommending rejection of a 5% offer from the Edinburgh government. But following an improved offer last month of a £2,205 flat-rate increase, UNISON’s health committee in Scotland decided to suspend the strike ballot. That offer is currently being put to UNISON members in a digital consultative ballot that closes next week. UNISON’s ballot of 350,000 health staff working for more than 250 NHS employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland launched on 25 October. That vote closes in Northern Ireland on 18 November, and a week later (25 November) in England and Wales. UNISON and most other health unions had called for an above-inflation pay rise in their submission to the NHS pay review body.
– Other unions either balloting or planning to ballot for industrial action in the NHS include the Royal College of Midwives, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, GMB and Unite.
– To achieve a legal strike ballot, UK law requires unions to jump a variety of hurdles. In addition to requiring 50% of the workers being balloted to participate in any vote, the law demands that in very important public services, like many parts of the NHS, 40% of those sent ballot papers must vote yes. Unions are also unable to conduct strike ballots electronically. All ballot papers must be sent out in the mail and returned by post.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: F.ayad@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
