PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak is facing calls from senior Tories, including members of his own government, to tackle the crisis in the NHS and make a more generous pay offer to end strikes by nurses and ambulance drivers.
Ministers, officials and Tory MPs are among those who raised concerns to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity.
Health unions have been invited to meet Health Secretary Steve Barclay today, Monday January 9, to discuss pay for 2023-24 from April
But union leaders say the government must act on the current pay dispute for this year, and the talks will not stop planned strikes in January.
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme on Saturday, Royal College of Nursing General Secretary Pat Cullen said the pay increase nurses would receive in 2022-23 was ‘fundamental’ to the ongoing dispute.
‘We’ll of course go to the meeting … but it’s sadly not what’s going to prevent strike action that’s planned for 10 days’ time,’ she said.
Asked about earlier comments in which she appeared to suggest the union would consider lowering its pay increase demand from 19%, and about reports it would be prepared to accept 10%, she called on Sunak to meet her ‘halfway’.
‘I have put out an olive branch to get us to the table,’ she said. ‘The ball is now firmly in the prime minister’s court.
‘He needs to come to the negotiation table with me and he needs to put money on that table, and it needs to be about the current year.’
Meanwhile, doctors representatives have hit back at comments by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting’s comments on reform of the existing GP system.
In an interview with The Times, he said he would stop GPs being ‘the sole gatekeeper’ to the NHS, including getting pharmacies to do more vaccination and prescribing.
Vowing to take on the ‘vested interest’ of the BMA, Streeting claimed: ‘The truth is that the way that GP practices operate financially is a murky, opaque business.
‘I’m not sure that people can honestly say exactly how the money is spent or where it goes. And from my point of view, as someone who wants to be a custodian of the public finances as health secretary, that would not be a tolerable situation.’
Royal College of GPs chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said Streeting’s description of ‘murky’ doctors’ practices is ‘something we certainly do not recognise’.
She added: ‘The partnership model of general practice delivers exceptional benefits for the NHS,’ stressing it is ‘extremely good value for money’ for the NHS.
Dr Kieran Sharrock, BMA England GP committee acting chair said: ‘There’s no doubt that the situation in general practice – for both patients and staff alike – has never been under more pressure.
‘GPs share the frustration of patients as demand outstrips capacity, and worry that they’re unable to provide the safe high-quality care that they want to.
‘But as Mr Streeting himself alludes to, when supported properly, general practice is value for money and improves health outcomes, meaning people don’t need to go on to receive expensive hospital care.
‘We agree with Mr Streeting that the GP contract needs to be revamped, to enable the most efficient, cost-effective part of the NHS to thrive.
‘This shouldn’t be about reinventing the wheel though, when we know people value the continuity of care that their GP practice should be able to provide through the partnership model.
‘We’re not at all averse to change and, in England, the BMA’s GP committee is already looking ahead to what contract will replace the current five-year framework that ends in 2024.
‘We’ve already seen changes in recent years with a wider variety of health professionals working with GP practices and more direct referrals to people like physiotherapists that both benefits patients and reduces the burden on GPs.
‘But what cannot be escaped is the spiralling workforce shortage that we have, which has been made worse by a lack of political support and continuous attacks on the profession.
‘Instead of blaming family doctors and their representatives for problems with the health service – the opposition should clearly be setting its sights on the government that has overseen a haemorrhaging of GPs over the last decade.
‘This is not about “vested interests”. We represent our members and also want the best for patients. The two co-exist.
‘We have offered to sit down and discuss this with Mr Streeting, to ensure that he understands the pressures on the frontline and how these can realistically be alleviated for the benefit of both staff and patients.’
Responding to the government announcement last Thursday about proposed legislation that could penalise public sector workers for taking strike action, Unison assistant general secretary Jon Richards said: ‘Ministers should focus their time and energy on rebuilding trust and relationships with workers, not silencing and suppressing them.
‘Minimum staffing levels in the NHS would be welcome by the public and health staff every single day of the week.
‘That could avoid people being left lying in agony on A&E floors or dying in the backs of ambulances.
‘The NHS is on its knees because of record vacancies. The idea of limiting legal staffing levels to strike days and threatening to sack or fine health workers at such a time shows proper patient care isn’t ministers’ priority.
‘The government is picking ill-advised fights with NHS employees and unions to mask years of dismal failure to tackle pay and staffing.
‘There’s a much simpler way for Rishi Sunak to put a swift end to strikes in the NHS and other sectors.
‘That’s to allow his ministers to begin direct pay negotiations immediately to boost wages, retain experienced staff and improve patient care.
‘The Prime Minister’s spoken of dialogue with unions. But talks must be about pay itself, not how the pay review body process works.
‘Unison will be examining these proposals and considering how to respond, including any appropriate legal challenge.’
In her blog, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea, said last Thursday: ‘We’ve been calling on the government to talk to us about pay for months.
‘Services can’t continue when so many workers are leaving for better paid jobs elsewhere, and when services can’t continue, patients suffer.
‘Even after our first wave of strike action in December, the government has unreasonably refused to sit down and talk to us about improving NHS pay.
‘So, we’re carrying on with our industrial action in the NHS into 2023.
‘Our next strike days are on 11 and 23 January, and we are re-balloting areas that fell just short of the high ballot thresholds imposed by a Conservative government.
‘It’s not too late for them to start negotiations with us. We are ready – and we’ve been ready for months.’
The leader of Unite the union, Sharon Graham dismissed the ‘game-playing and gimmicks’ from the government following the offer last Thursday of ‘so-called’ talks on pay by business secretary Grant Shapps.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘This offer of so-called ‘pay talks’ from the government is game playing of the highest order. It is nothing more than a smoke screen.
‘Bills need to be paid now, key workers’ families are suffering now, our NHS needs action now.
‘The idea that we would call off industrial action on current pay issues in order to discuss the government’s 2023/24 evidence to the Pay Review Body is frankly beyond a joke. It is not even jam tomorrow.
‘The rules have already been fixed and there is not a single penny of additional money for NHS pay available from this.
‘Every day, it’s a different gimmick from this government. Perhaps if they focused on the one thing they haven’t tried yet – negotiating with us on NHS pay – then we could make some headway. Unless and until they do this, our strikes go ahead on January 19th and January 23rd.’
