A UK government minister who has repeatedly refused to take part in pay talks with striking health workers has urged the public to “use common sense” on a “very difficult day”.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay admitted the health system would be “under very serious pressure today” as thousands of ambulance staff, paramedics and others across England and Wales went on strike on Wednesday, leaving the NHS unable to respond to many 999 calls.
He said the government’s capacity to maintain its emergency response to strikes was “obviously limited” and accused unions of failing to make clear whether all category two calls – conditions that include heart attacks or strokes – would be assessed.
“We are telling the public to exercise common sense in terms of the activities they do, given the pressures that are on the system,” Barkley told Sky News. But he refused to participate in pay negotiations, even if patients died as a result of the strikes.
Sharon Graham, the leader of the Unite trade union, suggested the Government should advise people to use their common sense to ease the pressure on the NHS “365 days a year”.
“There are 130,000 vacancies in the NHS, there are 3,000 vacancies in the ambulance service,” she told LBC radio. “It’s like, even in a normal game, there [is] strike still happens. We are in crisis in the NHS. If we don’t go around the table and start these negotiations and take a serious look at how we retain and hire staff, we have a very serious situation – not for one day, but for 365 days a year.
Unison general secretary Christina Makanea said it was “absolute nonsense” and a “complete and utter lie” to suggest unions had made it almost impossible for the government to make emergency plans. “I think they’re glossing over the fact that he waited until the day before the strike to even ask us about contingency planning.”
Barclay said on Wednesday that ministers should not accept pay recommendations from independent pay review bodies. Criticizing the media while speaking on three different broadcast programmes, Barkley first told Sky: “When we don’t fully accept the recommendations, we are criticized for that – in this case we have fully accepted them,” he said.
He later told BBC Breakfast: “And indeed in the past the government has not always fully accepted the recommendations, on programs like this ministers have been criticized for that.”
Doubling down on his refusal to engage in pay talks, Barkley said: “We’re three-quarters of the way through this year now, so what you’d say is, go back to April in retrospect to remove what was an independent decision by the pay review authority.
“But we are already underway in terms of the salary revision process for next year, the transfer letters have been sent. Obviously that body will then look at the changes in inflation, the other issues that have been raised, all as part of the normal process of looking at next year’s wages, so we have to look forward.”
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Thousands of paramedics and other NHS ambulance staff in England and Wales will strike between 12 and 24 hours on Wednesday, leaving the NHS unable to respond to many of the 999 calls it normally receives.
Today is obviously going to be a very difficult day for the health service,” Prof Sir Stephen Powis told the BBC. “But we are working very closely with the unions to ensure that emergency services for life-threatening conditions are maintained, and that will include stroke and heart attack.
“There are increased numbers of clinicians in call centers to ensure the right response is given to the right incident.”
He said strokes fall at the upper end of Category 2 cases, so clinicians will determine what response is needed, and he advised people to dial 999 “as usual” if they have a life-threatening condition.
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