New models of care delivery – supporting members through change

Conference is committed to working in partnership to make our NHS the best it can be, whatever the circumstances. However Conference notes that many of the changes coming to the NHS are more about driving down costs than driving up service quality. Initiatives are happening in different guises across the UK including integration with social […]

The ageing workorce in the NHS

Conference notes with concern that there is inadequate planning to mitigate the impact of an ageing workforce in the NHS. It is predicted that by 2020 one third of the workforce will be aged over 50, whilst the abolition of the default retirement age and the impact of low wages on future pension income mean […]

P.F.I. BUY OUTS

Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust became the first Trust in the UK to buy out a P.F.I. contract, releasing £3.5 million a year to go towards patient care. In total the savings over length of contract was approx. £48 million. If Northumbria can do it why not all Trusts? Releasing millions of pounds to go on […]

Motion on Revalidation

Conference notes that the introduction of revalidation was a key recommendation following the Francis enquiry. Revalidation with the Nursing and Midwifery Council will come into effect from April 2016, it will affect all 680,000 nurses and midwives who are currently regulated by the NMC. Replacing the outdated system of Prep, will be a challenge for […]

Sustainable Nursing Workforce

Nursing across the UK is facing the perfect storm of increased demand and diminishing resources. A decision by the previous coalition government to slash the pre-registration commission numbers for student nurses has had catastrophic consequences for the NHS now. The age profile of our current nursing workforce means that an average organisation could lose up […]

INFLUENCING THE NEW NHS STRUCTURES

Conference notes we continue to see the true extent of the Health and Social Care Bill and the Tory Government’s plans for the NHS. We are seeing the widespread privatisation and fragmentation of our NHS. Our members losing their jobs, forced into the private sector where profits are put before patient care. The recent threat […]

Pay Campaign

Conference notes that according to Oxfam (March 2014), the five richest families in the UK are wealthier than the bottom 20 per cent of the entire population – five households with more money than 12.6 million people – almost the same as the number of people living below the poverty line in the UK. The […]

Defend Healthcare Student Bursaries

Conference welcomes the decision at the 2015 Health Service Group Conference to call on the Health Service Group Executive to campaign for all nursing and other ‘non-medical’ pre-registration healthcare students to be paid a salary no less than the Living Wage. Conference condemns the announcement in George Osborne’s November 2015, Autumn statement, to end the […]

Student Nurses Funding

This Conference condemns the decision by the UK Tory Government to require fees for nursing and midwifery courses to be paid for from 2017 by loans rather than the current bursary system. This callous decision will drive more and more of those people who want to care for the vulnerable in our society into poverty […]

NHS Pay Determination and Devolution

Conference welcomes the decision taken by UNISON Health Conference in 2015 which acknowledged that responsibility for determining NHS pay is a devolved function. Devolution however does not mean that UNISON is anything other than wholly committed to improving pay in the NHS across all of the four countries in the UK. It is unacceptable in […]

Agenda for Change – Tackling Low Pay

This Conference welcomes the decision taken by UNISON National Delegate Conference in 2015 to “push toward minimum pay rates of £10 per hour.” This Conference also welcomes the decision taken by UNISON Health Conference in 2015 to call upon the Health Service Group Executive to develop a campaign to eliminate Band One from Agenda for […]

Domestic Abuse: Training for Pre-Hospital Healthcare Professionals.

Conference recognises that domestic abuse, whether inflicted by men on women, by women on men or by same sex couples must not be defended or tolerated in today’s modern society. However the abuse is caused or who causes it, when injury or ill health results and the victim is in need of medical attention, it […]

Health and Safety Expertise within Health Branches

Conference regards the health, safety and welfare of workers as paramount across the NHS. Conference believes the successful pursuit of health and safety legislation, regulations and practice in the workplace rests in large part on the efforts of unionised work places. Conference recognises the attempts of government to roll back health and safety provision. Conference […]