Health chiefs have warned they cannot guarantee patient safety when ambulance staff go on strike on Wednesday after Rishi Sunak refused to renew this year’s NHS pay deal.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay met ambulance unions on Tuesday to discuss covering 999 calls during the strike in England and Wales, but talks broke down with warnings that people could die as a result of the pay dispute.
“There will be delays, there will be a significant impact and lives could be lost,” said one Barkley ally. “Unions have to take responsibility for this. This is their strike.
Christina Makanea, general secretary of the trade union Unison, responded by saying: “Ministers are putting people’s lives at risk by refusing to negotiate with the unions. Without a proper pay rise, escalation of action looks likely in the new year.
Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said people could help avoid strain on emergency services “by taking sensible steps to keep themselves and others safe”, including by “drinking responsibly “.
Will Queens, the health minister, urged the public to avoid “any risky activities” during the ambulance strike.
Strike action by around 10,000 ambulance staff in England and Wales represents the prime minister’s biggest challenge as public and private sector workers respond to the cost of living crisis by demanding higher wages.
The government is sending 600 military personnel to man ambulances during the strike organized by Unison, Unite and GMB unions.
In a letter to Sunak, the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, which represent healthcare organizations across the UK, warned of “deep concern among NHS leaders about the level of harm and risk that could occur to patients tomorrow and beyond” during industrial action.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, insisted it was not something NHS leaders would say lightly, “but some are now telling us they cannot guarantee patient safety tomorrow”.
The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers have called on Sunac to open pay talks with unions to end strike action.
But Sunak told MPs that any discussion of pay should be in the context of next year’s agreement, which applies from April 2023, adding that it is linked to the current independent review body process.
In July, the government accepted recommendations from the NHS review body for most health workers in England to receive a flat pay rise of £1,400, backdated to April. This represents an increase of around 4 per cent on the average basic pay of NHS workers.
The Royal College of Nursing, which staged a second strike by nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Tuesday following strike action last week, is demanding a 19 per cent pay rise. Ambulance unions want a pay rise in line with inflation.
“Our door is always open to talk to everybody and we will be constructive about how we approach these things going forward,” Sunak said, adding that wage restraint was needed to tame high inflation.
Onay Kasab, Unite’s national lead officer, who attended the meeting with Barclay, said the health secretary had refused to discuss pay.
Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB, defended the walkout time for ambulance workers, saying staff were experiencing “stress, burnout, exhaustion”.
Coverage for 999 calls on Wednesday should be relatively uniform across regions, with most ambulance services planning to respond to life-threatening ‘category one’ calls and the most serious ‘category two’ emergencies following agreements reached with unions.
In the North West and North East of England, for example, category two calls where an ambulance will be dispatched include birth complications, heart-related chest pains and pediatric emergencies.
However, underscoring the difficult situation of Wednesday’s strike, five ambulance trusts across the country – in London, the South East Coast, the East, Yorkshire and the North East – declared “business continuity” or “critical” incidents: a status invoked when services are at risk of being overloaded.
Meanwhile, Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, warned that the clock was ticking for Sunak to avoid further action by nurses.
“There are two days to meet and start turning this around by Christmas,” she said. “By Friday we will announce the dates and hospitals for next month’s strike.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown became the latest Tory MP to push for a compromise. He said ministers “parroting” lines to stick to pay review bodies’ recommendations were “unrealistic”.
Although Sunak has taken a hard line, public opinion appears to be in favor of striking NHS staff. About two-thirds of people polled by YouGov said they supported strike action by nurses and ambulance workers.
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