Conference notes the following: ·That all staff working in the NHS, including Agency Staff, are covered by NHS Indemnity. This means that NHS bodies are vicariously liable for the negligent acts and omissions of their employees and should have arrangements for meeting this liability. Under Common Law all employers, including voluntary organisations, are vicariously liable […]
Conference motions
This conference condemns the recent deluge of redundancies announced by Trusts across the country. In an indecent rush to balance the books, thousands of jobs have been lost in Staffordshire, Cornwall, London, Sussex, Plymouth, Leeds and NHS Direct to name just a few. We reject completely the statement made by the Prime Minister on April […]
Following the announcement by Peter Garwood – Managing Director of the National Blood Service, on Monday 27th March 2006, Conference registers its opposition to the planned reconfiguration of blood centres in the South West and Bristol and the knock on affect to the Birmingham Centre. Conference is concerned that this process was outside of any […]
Conference welcomes the agreement reached at the Public Services Forum between the TUC and Central Government which safeguards the principles and protection of the pensions rights of existing members of the NHS Pensions Scheme. Conference recognises the key role that UNISON played to reach that agreement in which the government honoured its pensions contract with […]
Conference recognises the current crisis surrounding pensions and all our futures upon retirement. We also recognise that for women the situation is far worse than that of men and are, therefore, grateful for the work that UNISON continues to do with the Fawcett Society on the inequality for women in our pensions systems. Conference welcomes […]
Conference notes with concern the findings of the ICM opinion poll commissioned by Amnesty International which indicates that a third of people in the United Kingdom believe that a woman is partially or totally responsible for being raped. The Amnesty report Sexual Assault Research published on 21 November 2005 shows that 26 per cent of […]
Conference is concerned at the increasing number of women suffering from ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cause of death from cancer amongst women in the UK and is known as the silent killer. Every year about 6,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with this disease, the majority of these cases […]
Conference welcomes the decision of the European Social Fund equality programme to award £2.45 million to Healthy Minds at Work in Wales. Conference notes that UNISON Cymru/Wales are founding members of the development partnership. Research has shown that twice as many women than men in the United Kingdom have a diagnosis of a depressive illness. […]
This Conference is critical of the way that the submission to the Pay Review Body and the drawing up of a pay claim for non-Pay Review Body staff were dealt with for 2006/07. The Staff Side evidence which was submitted to the Pay Review Body for 2006/07 did not comply with the policy on the […]
This conference welcomes the advent of Managers in Partnership (MIP) which was highlighted as an innovation in the provision of trade unionism. The venture between UNISON and the First Division Association has created a new vehicle for senior managers in the health service and related services, and conference acknowledges the excellent work performed by the […]
Conference notes that the NHS pension scheme regulations currently allow married males employed in the NHS to leave their widow a pension based on length of service from 24 March 1972. However, conference notes with concern that married female employees, and now those who enter into civil partnerships, can only have their length of service […]
Conference notes that the Public Sector duties on gender will come into force in April 2007 as part of the wider Equalities legislation. The Gender Equality Duty will require service providers and public sector employers to design employment and services with the different needs of women and men in mind. As the largest employer of […]
A significant number of NHS staff are required to work away from their base for most of their working time (e.g. Blood Transfusion Staff going to rural communities to reach donors, or staff operating mobile breast screening units). Other NHS staff often find that they are required to work in the evenings that results in […]
That this Conference congratulates UNISON Service Group on the work it is presently undertaking to ensure staff safety at work. Conference furthermore maintains that in areas where Patients/Clients/Residents are particularly vulnerable for example “Persons with Learning Difficulties” that UNISON opposes the move to “Lone Working” at Night. As this not only compromises the safety of […]
Conference notes that the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions Handbook: ·had to be concluded by a pre-agreed deadline ·was not widely available to UNISON’s lay membership before the Agenda for Change ballot ·leaves around a hundred terms open to local negotiation rather than the nineteen or so originally envisaged ·is often unclearly-expressed or ambiguous […]