Ministers have refused an offer from nursing union leaders to delay a walkout due to incapacitate the NHS in exchange for face-to-face discussions over pay.
The Royal College of Nursing had offered to ‘press pause’ on a strike in exchange for talks with Health Secretary Steve Barclay, amid fears that the action by thousands of medics will worsen the health services problems.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen, whose members are expected to take part in unprecedented strike action on December 15 and December 20, told a newspaper outlet she was keen to relieve strain on medical services ahead of the festive period, but Mr Barclay refused to personally get involved in negotiations over demands for a 19 per cent pay increase for nurses, and James Cleverly refused to go any further than his cabinet colleague, saying unions had to agree pay with the independent review body.
The Foreign Secretary told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that of course, they want to engage and of course, they want to get this settled.
It came as Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said that industrial action could hit attempts by the NHS to ease waiting lists ahead of an anticipated fifth wave of COVID this winter.
He told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that waiting lists had been lowered to below two years in the summer with the aim of that dropping to 18 months by the spring.
He said that, of course, could be knocked off course and that industrial action was one thing but that there could be a significant wave of COVID, a new variant perhaps, and that there could be a peak of the flu, and that there was trouble brewing this winter, but that they would see how they get on.
Sir Stephen said the service is under enormous strain this winter and requires more staff, with 100,000 vacancies in England.
He said, there’s also a need for up to 2,000 additional medical school places, preferably based in regions of the country with the most significant needs.
He said that they need to retain staff and that they could recruit internationally, but ultimately they need to train more staff in this country.
Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said it was deplorable that UK nurses were the lowest paid in Europe.
It’s definitely time for the people of the United Kingdom to have a voice in who governs them and they should hold an election now! But even if Labour did get in, would they be any better at improving things?
We have a Government that doesn’t want to govern in the interest of its UK citizens, but voting will change very little and Labour will be no better. What we need is a complete reform of how the parliamentary system works, along with how people are elected to office.
Our present system is based on voting in unqualified people based on their perceived popularity and how much money they can raise for the party to pay for the entrance fee.
In every other job in the world you have to have the relevant experience, and qualifications and pass an interview, so what credentials and experience do those running the major office of staff hold, which are relevant to the staff they oversee? Almost none and yet they’re appointed to those positions based on party politics.
The Department of Health said that the Health Secretary’s door remained open for further talks, but what’s the point of going through an open door if there’s no one on the other side to talk to? This Tory government is beyond useless, dodging its responsibility and that’s why these walkouts have gone on for weeks because they refuse to come out of their fridges to negotiate.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 