Conference believes that when trade unions hear the word “insourcing”, we traditionally assume this means outsourced services being brought into the NHS or wider public sector. However, Conference notes that in today’s NHS increasingly the term is taking on a different meaning, at least in the eyes of some of those running the system. This […]
Conference motions
Reducing the working week has long been a key goal of the trade union movement. The issue has re-emerged strongly over recent years as investment in technology is used to threaten jobs and damage patient services. Conference acknowledges that the NHS is under extreme demand and pressure. This pressure lands almost completely on staff. Almost […]
Conference notes that many healthcare employers rely on staff delivering services using their own vehicles for transport – this is known as the use of the “grey fleet”. The use of personal vehicles is in most cases reimbursed by mileage payments, generally paid on a per-mile basis. Levels for “approved mileage allowance payments” are set […]
The NHS Must Become A Real Living Wage Employer. More and more low paid staff employed by the NHS are earning a wage that is less than the Real Living Wage of £12.00 an hour as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. In the past it was difficult to get a job in the NHS […]
Female dominated professions such as HCAs, Nursing and Admin within the NHS have long been undervalued and underpaid. The NHS Pay deal of 2023 applied only to staff on substantive NHS employment contracts. Bank workers did not automatically receive the pay uplift and this has disproportionally affected women members. Capable and brilliant women are being […]
Safe Staffing Conference notes the passing of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 (HCSA), which will come into force in April 2024, as the first piece of legislation in the UK to set out requirements for safe staffing across both health and care services. Conference recognises that the legislation places a number of […]
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to hit hard, and has detrimental financial implications for our members, we need to find every single possible way of increasing the monies that our members can earn. Recent pay increases for most of our members, but not all, have been welcome. However, the rising cost of inflation, and rising […]
In the UK, there are 9 regulators of healthcare professionals regulating 34 professions across the UK. Conference notes growing concerns surrounding the future of funding of regulation for health care workers. A persistent concern from members is the continued increase in registration fees by different regulatory bodies, such as the Health and Care Professions Council […]
Conference notes the severe staff shortages across the NHS, including the allied health professions. Despite an overall growth in numbers of these professions, the vacancy rates continue to climb. Staff are suffering from burn out and stress and patient care is being damaged. Conference notes that newly qualified allied health professionals and new starters need […]
The Bradford score was introduced in the 1980’s from research done by Bradford University School of Management. This theory related to frequent spells of unplanned absence from employees, which could become detrimental to business performance. In comparison to longer spells of absences. Conference recognises that many NHS trust have adopted the Bradford scoring system within […]
Conference notes that Minor Injuries Units perform a crucial role in the treatment of acute patients who treat injuries that are not critical or life-threatening. But some minor injuries units also see more complex injuries. These complex patients can be referred directly to accident and emergency or to a speciality so being triaged away from […]
Research conducted in 2022 by King’s College London in collaboration with the NIHR ARC (National Institute for Health Research, Applied Research Collaboration), North Thames at University College London and NHS Trusts across England, showed that healthcare workers experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at twice the rate it appears in the general public. The COVID-19 pandemic […]
Conference notes the aim of NHS England to develop a suite of ‘simplified national people policies’ as set out in the NHS ‘Future of NHS human resources and organisational development’ report 2021. In addition to this national initiative, some Integrated Care Systems have begun developing their own ‘model’ policy frameworks. In Lancashire and South Cumbria, […]
Conference notes the well-documented crisis in social care, with low pay, high vacancy rates, job insecurity and poor working conditions creating a ‘perfect storm’ in which employers are unable to recruit and retain staff, workers are underpaid and overworked, and local authorities are in danger of being unable to fulfil their statutory obligations to provide […]
Conference is proud that UNISON is one of the founding members of the Disability Employment Charter which now has 150 organisations signed up to it, including trade unions, disabled people organisations, public service employers, charitable organisations, and private sector employers. The disability employment charter was founded because of the disadvantage that disabled people experience in […]