Conference notes that the National Executive Council has submitted several rule changes to National Delegate Conference including one on adequate and agreed funding for retired member activity. Conference also notes the existence of Regional Pools. These Regional Pools are intended to be an additional source of branch funding for specific items where the branch could […]
Conference motions
Add at end of Standing Order 3.1 A regional delegate may move a motion or amendment submitted by a Branch within that Region if the Branch concerned is unable to be present at the Conference. Delete existing 3.3 Renumber 3.4 as 3.3.
Conference notes that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has rejected a proposal from the Department of Health that its assessment of new medicines should include the evaluation of wider societal benefit (WSB). Wider Societal Benefit is a measure of the impact of a treatment on the extent to which people living […]
Conference recognises that one of the factors to account for the growth of UNISON’s Retired Members’ Organisation is growing longevity. While this mainly consists of existing members growing older there are also instances of former members taking up retired membership many years after they left work. Conference asserts that longevity is an asset not a […]
Conference notes with concern that the conditions of service of Care Staff is a real scandal and as a result the frail, elderly people are not receiving the level of service they should. A study by Baroness Kingsmill has stated that frail elderly people are being exposed to neglect and abuse because caring and compassionate […]
Conference notes that on 13 March 2014 Secretary of State Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt released the 28th Report of the NHS Pay Review Body and announced the Department of Health’s pay policy for NHS Staff in England from 1 April 2014. Subsequent announcements were made by Ministers in Scotland and Wales about the pay uplift […]
Conference notes the decision taken by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) at its meetings on the 26th March 2014, to consult on a proposed fee increase of 20% from February 2015 Conference further notes that the NMC remains under special measures and is monitored more closely than other regulators following a damning report into […]
UNISON branches and members have been at the forefront of campaigns over the last two decades and more to keep our National Health Service public. When necessary and allowed, UNISON branches and members have taken industrial action to maintain and promote the National Health Service. Conference condemns the shameful decision of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS […]
Conference condemns the wholesale privatisation of large parts of the NHS by the Con / Dem government. Without any democratic mandate the NHS is being dismantled bit by bit and handed over to private sector providers who are driven by the profit motive rather than a commitment to deliver quality care for patients. Conference rejects […]
Conference is all too aware that the Coalition Government led by the Tories are ideologically committed to dismantling the NHS and selling it off to their friends in the private healthcare sector. Cameron’s pre election promise that there would be no top down reorganisation of the NHS was mere hypocrisy. Their underfunding of the NHS […]
UNISON has long been concerned with inadequate staffing levels on hospital wards leading to compromised patient care. This was borne out in the Francis Inquiry and Keogh reports. The shortages of Registered Nursing Staff, appropriate skill mix and overall staffing levels to carry out the fundamental care of patients is now at crisis levels. Despite […]
Conference believes that since the election of the Tory-led coalition, the remit issued by the Government to the Pay Review Body (PRB) each year has been so restrictive as to remove any genuinely independent process from establishing NHS Pay. In effect each of the remits has purely asked the PRB to recommend how the Government’s […]
The National Retired Members’ Committee continues to work to ensure that the UNISON website serves as an efficient means of communicating with over 166,000 Retired members. It is vital that members are provided with information about campaigns that they can get involved with and the activities being undertaken by UNISON. Conference notes that since the […]
Conference opposes any attempts by Governments across the UK to cut universal benefits for older people such as the winter fuel payment, free bus pass, free prescriptions and free TV licences. These benefits are essential to ensuring a decent standard of living and social inclusion for millions of pensioners who face daily poverty, fuel poverty […]
UNISON research into zero hours contracts shows that more than 40% of care workers are on these contracts. Activists are reporting that more employers are using zero hours contracts more widely across the NHS. This also includes operational service staff. Zero hours contracts are imbalanced and the employer reaps all the benefits. Members are asked […]