Conference is committed to working in partnership to make our NHS the best it can be, whatever the circumstances. However Conference notes that many of the changes coming to the NHS are more about driving down costs than driving up service quality. Initiatives are happening in different guises across the UK including integration with social […]
Conference motions
Conference welcomes the report of the Health Service Group Executive’s Devolution Working Group on pay determination across the four countries in the UK. Conference acknowledges that whilst responsibility for determining pay in the UK is a devolved function, UNISON remains committed to maintaining and improving pay for NHS workers across the UK. Conference believes the […]
Conference condemns the comments made by Home Secretary Theresa May at the 2015 Conservative conference where she stated “at best the net economic and fiscal effect of high immigration is zero”. Conference believes this is not only inflammatory but is also not backed by evidence. The NHS is dependent on migrant workers to maintain and […]
Conference believes that the way NHS services are commissioned in England has to change. Conference reiterates its opposition to NHS privatisation and notes that since the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into force it is far easier for clinical and support services to be sold off, and increasingly even the actual commissioning itself. […]
Consistent underfunding of the NHS since 2010, the refusal of the Westminster Government to support Agenda for Change and local pressure from irresponsible employers has meant we have spent the last five years defending rather than improving our national agreement. As a result, we have an agreement which we are committed to fight for, but […]
Conference welcomes the report of the Health Service Group Executive’s Devolution Working Group on pay determination across the four countries in the UK. Conference acknowledges that whilst responsibility for determining pay in the UK is a devolved function, UNISON remains committed to maintaining and improving pay for NHS workers across the UK. Conference believes the […]
Conference notes with concern that there is inadequate planning to mitigate the impact of an ageing workforce in the NHS. It is predicted that by 2020 one third of the workforce will be aged over 50, whilst the abolition of the default retirement age and the impact of low wages on future pension income mean […]
Conference is concerned that the complex tariff system in operation in the NHS may disadvantage some services, and consequently our members that provide those services. The tariffs result in lower levels of funding for those services, leading to difficulty in recruiting; staff shortages; increased workload and less flexibility, thus impacting on the health and wellbeing […]
Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust became the first Trust in the UK to buy out a P.F.I. contract, releasing £3.5 million a year to go towards patient care. In total the savings over length of contract was approx. £48 million. If Northumbria can do it why not all Trusts? Releasing millions of pounds to go on […]
NICE recently recommended that home visits should be a minimum of 30 minutes. Conference calls on the HSGE to work with Government and NHS Employers to ensure this recommendation becomes the norm, and also to ensure staffing levels in the NHS are adequate so that Employers can implement such visits.
As organisations defending and promoting the interests of workers, pay is central to the function of Trade Unions. The achievement of the national NHS pay and conditions system, still known as Agenda for Change, represents a major development for UNISON, and for other NHS Trade Unions. The defence of this system and the lodging and […]
Conference notes that the introduction of revalidation was a key recommendation following the Francis enquiry. Revalidation with the Nursing and Midwifery Council will come into effect from April 2016, it will affect all 680,000 nurses and midwives who are currently regulated by the NMC. Replacing the outdated system of Prep, will be a challenge for […]
Nursing across the UK is facing the perfect storm of increased demand and diminishing resources. A decision by the previous coalition government to slash the pre-registration commission numbers for student nurses has had catastrophic consequences for the NHS now. The age profile of our current nursing workforce means that an average organisation could lose up […]
Conference notes we continue to see the true extent of the Health and Social Care Bill and the Tory Government’s plans for the NHS. We are seeing the widespread privatisation and fragmentation of our NHS. Our members losing their jobs, forced into the private sector where profits are put before patient care. The recent threat […]
Conference welcomes the decision at the 2015 Health Service Group Conference to call on the Health Service Group Executive to campaign for all nursing and other ‘non-medical’ pre-registration healthcare students to be paid a salary no less than the Living Wage. Conference condemns the announcement in George Osborne’s November 2015, Autumn statement, to end the […]