The Health Secretary has suggested that striking NHS staff could yet be in line for a bumper pay increase from April if they embrace productivity and efficiency reforms.
Steve Barclay is expected to meet with union leaders for discussions about next year’s pay settlement for health employees.
There’s pressure on the Government to agree to a significant pay increase as a means to end a string of disruptive walkouts.
Some ambulance workers are set to go on strike again on Wednesday, while nurses are also planning another strike on 18 and 19 January.
Union leaders are calling for above-inflation pay boosts, although Mr Barclay has consistently refused to negotiate on salaries already determined by an independent pay body for this year, but the Health Secretary has pushed the focus to next year’s pay settlement with a suggestion that NHS reforms could form part of the negotiations.
In an article for the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Barclay wrote that he remains willing to engage with unions on what the Government could do to support the workforce.
He said he was looking forward to talking with the trade unions to see how they make any settlement done through the independent pay body more affordable, where there are productivity and efficiency opportunities.
As well as dealing with the chaos of the strike hitting the NHS, Mr Barclay is also expected to unveil a significant package to relieve pressure on A&E departments this winter. This will reportedly include the transfer of thousands of NHS patients to care homes.
The Health Secretary is expected to meet union leaders from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), GMB, Unite and Unison on Monday.
Ahead of those talks, Mr Barclay said he wanted to discuss what’s fair and affordable before the Government submits evidence to the independent pay review body as part of a constructive approach.
He added that with less than three months left of this financial year, we should be pushing on and having constructive discussions about what’s affordable this coming year, instead of going back retrospectively to pay that applies as far back as April.
He said that he realises that inflation has made life more difficult for the workforce, just as it has for millions of families up and down the country, and that it was also part of the reason why he was so determined to talk about what they can do next year on pay, and the numerous other improvements they need to make the NHS a more suitable place to work.
But how can nurses be more efficient when they already work above and beyond? And I would say the vast majority do their best including unpaid overtime.
But more resources need to be put toward more money into the front-line medical staff, instead of hiring diversity and equality managers and other non-medical roles, and what reforms does Mr Barclay actually want? He probably wants more extended hours, and fewer holidays, when what is required is a radical overhaul of the management structure and getting rid of utterly meaningless positions.
This country is in complete chaos, and nothing appears to be working anymore, it’s as if our Government aren’t governing the country, so they must start listening and doing what people want and start spending taxpayers’ money on our own people and not the rest of the world, and in this day and age, the idea is to work smarter, not flog people to death.
And why do they always add some sort of strings? Can you envision saying to an MP, yes, you can have a pay rise but you’ll have to spend more time in Parliament and actually do some work instead of falling asleep on the bench, they’d soon change their tune?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 