AS LONG AGO AS LAST FEBRUARY, the Regulatory Policy Committee’s report on the Tory proposed anti-strike legislation found the government had not fully assessed the impact of the Bill.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said then: ‘This is a damning assessment of the government’s attempt to stifle the rights of workers. The independent committee is saying it is not fit for purpose and should essentially go “back to the drawing board”.
‘The government is ploughing ahead with an ill thought through Bill that allows for nursing staff to be sacked for taking otherwise lawful strike action.’
The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC)) was tasked with providing an opinion on the Government’s impact assessment for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill.
Responding to the minimum service level consultation, RCN Chief Nurse, Professor Nicola Ranger, said:
‘The RCN has always been responsible in taking safe strike action, with concerns for patient safety at its core. However nursing staff will tell you there are not safe staffing levels on non-strike days – and they are sometimes unable to provide the level of service and care patients need.
‘Patients are routinely waiting hours for care or ending up being treated in corridors. There are also tens of thousands of unfilled nursing posts. That’s why nurses took strike action – something that has proved to be the only way to get the voice of nursing staff heard.
‘We don’t believe these proposals will address the underlying long-term crisis in the NHS workforce and we will respond robustly to the consultation and share our experience of the past 12 months.
‘Ultimately we believe the government should be focusing on investing in the nursing workforce – including paying staff fairly and addressing the chronic staff shortages that are damaging the health service.’
Just after 24 hours of coordinated strike action between junior doctors and consultants in England got under way, findings from a survey of the public reveal a majority believes the Government should reopen pay talks and crucially, should use the funds associated with covering industrial action to settle the pay dispute.
It is estimated the strikes have cost the Government £1bn so far, in increased costs to provide cover. The BMA has calculated that restoring the pay of junior doctors and settling the dispute would have cost the same amount.
In what the BMA believes to be the first survey of public opinion on the pay negotiations, the findings are a clear indication of public sentiment about the Government’s handling of the dispute so far.
The BMA-commissioned survey asked members of the public how they thought the Government should have used the money spent on strikes so far. Over 63% of respondents said the Government should have used that money to pay doctors and settle the dispute.
The public was also asked: ‘How important or unimportant do you believe it is that the Government re-opens talks with the BMA?’ 70% of respondents said it was important or very important.
Another 43% of those asked in the survey believe the Government is giving too little attention to issues around doctors’ pay.
The Government broke down the negotiation talks with junior doctors in England back in May and at the time of the survey, it had been over 170 days since there were any formal negotiations between the Health Secretary and Consultants.
Consultants began their latest round of strike action on Tuesday, and yesterday were joined in a coordinated Day of Action by junior doctors with ‘Christmas Day’ cover, from both groups.
Junior doctors will continue their strike with a full walkout until Saturday of this week. A further three days of joint action are planned for next month.
If the Tories, as expected, move to ban these strike actions, all the TUC trade unions must stop in a general strike to win the dispute, and save the NHS by bringing down the Tories and bringing in a Workers Government and socialism.
The time for immediate and massive trade union action to bring down the government and save the NHS has arrived.
Forward to the General Strike, a workers government and socialism!
