BMA questions feasibility of government's additional care pledge
The general secretary of Britain’s largest nursing union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), has warned of industrial action if ministers try to cut staff wages for working unsocial hours, including over weekends and holiday periods.
Peter Carter said any cuts in pay associated with delivering Cameron’s “seven-day” NHS service would be “strongly resisted” and could result in industrial action.
Yesterday prime minister David Cameron reaffirmed his pre-election commitment to transforming the NHS into a seven-day service.
He said the NHS budget would increase by £8bn a year by the end of parliament, to help fund the changes, and to help pay for 5,000 extra GPs, faster access to new treatments and a greater focus on mental health and healthy living.
“Our commitment is to free healthcare for everyone - wherever you are and whenever you need it,” he said.
“I believe that together – by sticking to the plan – we can become the first country in the world to deliver a truly seven-day NHS.”
Cameron said the shift would not mean longer working hours for staff, but a “more flexible approach to work patterns”.
People should “not automatically assume" seven-day services would cost more, he added.
But the British Medical Association, which represents doctors, questioned how the government expected to deliver additional care when the NHS faced a funding gap of £30bn, and there was a “chronic” shortage of GPs and hospital doctors across the UK.
Unison’s head of health Christina McAnea said: “The NHS should be able to provide the same quality of care no matter what day of the week a patient is admitted to hospital.
"But for the government's plans to work, ministers must find new money, not take it from the small amount of extra pay that nurses and other NHS staff get from working at night, weekends and bank holidays.”
Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the UK’s approach to a national health service required more than money to operate on a seven-day basis: “To achieve this, a wider culture change across the NHS is needed, in addition to resolving the financial, workforce and service design challenges,” he said.
Speaking to Sky News after Carter’s announcement, health secretary Jeremy Hunt described RCN’s warning as “ridiculous”.
"We haven’t made a single proposal about NHS pay and conditions," he added.
In addition, members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have engaged in industrial action with a planned 24-hour walk out and a ban on members doing any overtime work for 48-hours over the bank holiday weekend.
If it goes ahead, the walk out will be Britain’s first national rail strike in 20 years, as an overwhelming majority of members rejected Network Rail's pay deal of a one-off £500 payment to staff and three years of pay rises matching retail price index inflation.
Leaders from the RMT and Network Rail were due to meet today (Tuesday 19) at conciliation service Acas in an effort to reach a deal.