Conference is appalled by both the speed and the scale of cuts that have already taken place and the extent of cutbacks that are being built into future expenditure plans by local authorities across the UK. This includes unnecessary and damaging plans by all political parties to freeze or cut Council Tax, with disastrous implications […]
Conference motions
Conference welcomes: 1)The Changing Lives programme of social work reforms in Scotland 2)The final report of the Social Work Task Force for England 3)The review of the roles and tasks of social work in Northern Ireland 4)The Social Work Task Group in Wales Conference notes that the acute problems afflicting social work and qualified and […]
Conference notes the increased focus on personalisation of social care and its proposed role in the future of social care provision. Conference recognises the negative impact on jobs, pay and conditions and service provision and therefore the importance of maintaining UNISON’s personalisation campaign – “Cash for Care” – across the UK. This shift in the […]
Conference notes that UNISON rule D6 provides only for the retired members of a branch to elect a Branch Retired Members’ Secretary who also serves as their representative on the Branch Committee. Unlike the self-organised groups, retired members have no right to form a Branch Retired Members’ Group, rather the Code of Good Branch Practice […]
Conference is concerned that depression in older people goes undiagnosed and that hundreds of thousands of older people may be denied treatment because depression is wrongly seen as a natural part of getting older. Conference, therefore instructs the National Retired Members’ Committee to liaise with the National Executive Council and UNISON’s UK publicity outlets to […]
This Conference believes that elderly people deserve the best possible care in their latter years. However, it’s totally wrong that people who have worked hard all their life lose everything they’ve strived for, their houses, savings etc in order to pay for their care when they get old or ill. Recent government proposals for a […]
Many hospitals and wards, treatment and support services are being closed or threatened with closure up and down the country. Before hospital closures and mergers started most hospitals were serviced by a good bus service, but now many elderly patients have to travel on two or three buses in order to reach their alternative establishments. […]
Conference expresses its sympathy to those health workers and their families that have become stranded abroad due to the flight restrictions caused by the Icelandic volcano. However, Conference has become increasingly concerned at reports from NHS Trusts and other NHS employers that staff who are stranded and phoning in are being told that they will […]
Conference recognises that the political and economic challenges facing the NHS across the UK in the immediate future and the longer term require UNISON to develop a coherent strategy for both defending and improving future pay, terms and conditions. Whilst there are increasing differences in the way in which the four UK administrations choose to […]
UNISON welcomes the report by Robert Francis QC into the care that patients received at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2009. The report published on 24 February 2010 makes harrowing reading for patients, staff and the service. The Francis report supports many of the findings of the Healthcare Commission (now the Care […]
This Conference notes that: 1)At a meeting with NHS Derby City – Family Health Services staff, held on Tuesday 6th April 2010, proposals were presented to outsource all Family Health Services (FHS) functions in the East Midlands, to NHS Shared Business Services (SBS): thereby creating a real threat to jobs and services across the nine […]
2010 is a general election year and politicians from all parties will want to claim they have the NHS’ interests at heart and services will be safe with them. In reality the staff know that services have been trimmed and cut over many years now and bear no resemblance to the holistic care package that […]
Conference notes UNISON’s long-established policy of opposition and resistance to privatisation and marketisation in the NHS. We continue to lead the way in challenging government reforms that threaten to undermine the NHS through increased competition and greater private sector involvement in health care. UNISON branches and members have been at the forefront of campaigns over […]
This conference is concerned about the growing numbers of staff who are being downgraded following organisational changes within NHS trusts. Conference notes that UNISON fought long and hard to get a new set of terms and conditions in the health service. Agenda for Change is a UK wide, nationally negotiated agreement which delivers equality for […]
Conference notes that the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) is the custom-built development tool that supports career and pay progression for all NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts. As an integral part of Agenda for Change, the KSF gives staff a contractual right to access learning and development opportunities at work. Conference recognises […]