Conference welcomes incentives to improve the health and wellbeing of staff, conference is concerned that initiatives proposed by the four NHS systems are aimed at changing the behaviour of the worker rather than removing or reducing hazards in the workplace that can result in poor health. For example, in the ‘Five Year Forward View’ report, […]
Conference motions
Conference condemns the restructuring of Health Education England (HEE) announced in 2014, just over one after its establishment and linked to a £17million (20%) reduction in running costs. Conference opposes the 20% reduction in running costs which through its implementation means less jobs, a reduction of bandings for some posts and is unnecessary as £17 […]
Conference notes that many health employers are encouraging and at times pressing members in community and many support services roles to work in agile, remote or home based ways, making greater use of IT and reducing both the number of times staff need to visit their base and the size and number of bases themselves. […]
Conference welcomes the decision of the 2014 Trades Union Congress to support the claim for a rise in the national minimum wage to £10 per hour. We believe that £10 an hour is a necessity for the millions of working people who have suffered years of wage restraint and inflation outstripping pay rises. Conference calls […]
Conference notes, at the time of writing, the failure of the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt to meet and negotiate with NHS trade unions in England on their pay demands as set out in the Staff side letter of 25th June 2014. Conference applauds the efforts of all sections of the health group in delivering […]
Conference notes that although mental health is a significant part of the NHS, at least 20% of all activity, it is very under resourced. As a result staff working in mental health services are experiencing significant workplace stress as they struggle to provide high quality services to the detriment of staff health and wellbeing leading […]
Conference notes with concern that the goodwill of staff is being abused by managers to cover shortfalls in staffing. In particular there are concerns that staff are: 1) unable to take the necessary breaks in working hours; 2) not being paid for overtime worked; 3) being forced onto 12 hour shift patterns when they would […]
Conference notes with concern the increasing use of agency staff within the NHS to plug the gaps caused by sickness, unfilled vacancies and general staff shortages. In Wales alone, the cost of locum and agency staff in the last year was £14 million which accounts for 1.9% of the total NHS Wales budget. This is […]
At a recent event organised through Clinical Commissioning Groups in Leeds, many NHS stakeholders including health, local authority, third sector and trade unions came together to discuss transforming roles in health and social care through integration. We were presented with NHS England’s Five Year Forward View. Amongst other things, this plan laid out the future […]
Conference is deeply concerned the NHS workforce is being de-skilled in many areas. Previously agreed between the unions and employer Agenda for Change job description and person specifications are being ignored by NHS, wards, departments, clinics, etc, because they are unable to recruit employees with the qualifications, experience and competence the job description describes for […]
Conference congratulates the Health Group Executive and the leadership of our sister NHS unions on the campaign of industrial action to defend the real value of NHS pay. Conference however is concerned at the exceptionally modest ambition of this campaign and believe that for workers to be encouraged to take action we need to seek […]
Conference recognises that when Commissioning Support Units were set up across England when Primary Care Trusts were shut down by the coalition government. Their job is to advise local Clinical Commissioning Groups on buying health services for local people and they can be of strategic importance. The government is now proposing to remove Commissioning Support […]
Conference believes that a major incentive to outsourcing is the belief that it is possible to obtain cheaper services by giving outsourced workers worse pay and conditions than the ‘core’ NHS workforce. Conference believes it is absolutely essential to submit pay claims each year to major outsourcing companies with the aim of achieving at least […]
The NHS Health and Social Care Act opened the door to wholesale and unfettered privatisation of the NHS. Conference is appalled at the scale of this sell-off. The NHS in England has also seen a proliferation of a new model of privatisation that is sometimes referred to as a Primary Provider contract. One particular example […]
The Health and Social Care Act has completely changed the way commissioning is undertaken in the NHS with commissioning decisions paving the way for increased outsourcing and privatisation. UNISON remains vigorously opposed to privatisation of public services. Conference believes that privatisation is taking clinicians away from frontline care as they spend increased time on tenders. […]