As the NHS celebrates its 70th birthday this year, the challenges facing it are unprecedented – provision is drowning under the weight of chronic underfunding just when the health service needs it…Read more…
‘Not just a winter crisis’
In a symbolic victory, a Labour motion was passed yesterday (January 10) demanding that the government provide extra funding to tackle the winter crisis now engulfing the NHS. The Opposition…Read more…
Don’t blame the flu
Politicians are over-egging the Australian flu outbreak to mask the underfunding destroying the NHS, a leading virologist has said. Fears have been expressed that the flu epidemic which swept…Read more…
Winter crisis
Both prime minister Theresa May and health secretary Jeremy Hunt apologised this week after announcing that all non-urgent operations – more than 50,000 – would be cancelled till the end of the month…Read more…
NHS cash boost call
The continual failure of ministers to address the proper funding of the NHS is plunging the health service into a deep crisis – in the year that the NHS celebrates its 70th anniversary. …Read more…
‘Fundamental rethink’
The head of one of the largest trusts in the NHS has quit in protest over Tory funding cuts that are crippling the health service. King’s College hospital chair Bob Kerslake, who lead the…Read more…
Heart Centre win
East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre (EMCHC) at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester – which treats children and adults with heart problems from birth – was on the brink of closure after NHS England…Read more…
‘Final wake-up call’
As the NHS suffers a growing retention and recruitment crisis, new figures reveal that Brexit may be compounding the problem. The number of EU nurses and midwives coming to the UK to work has…Read more…
NHS Airbnbs?
Unite has slammed the Tories for continuing to tout the idea of renting spare rooms from the public to temporarily house recovering NHS patients, even after widespread condemnation from health groups…Read more…
Thriving at work?
Around 300,000 with people long-term mental health problems are forced to leave work every year, a shocking new report has found. Unite welcomed the ‘Thriving at Work’ report, which…Read more…
‘Golden hello’?
Doctors in training who agree to start their careers in coastal and rural areas – where recruiting GPs has been particularly tough – will receive a one-off £20,000 payment in plans announced today…Read more…
Deeply concerned
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has confirmed that the NHS pay cap will be scrapped but has not said if pay awards will be in line with inflation. The public sector pay cap has been in place for…Read more…
Under threat
Joyce Still, health visitor and Unite delegate spoke on behalf of Unite on the health and social care debate at conference on Tuesday (September 26). Health visitors have a key role, along…Read more…
Govt ‘scramble’ for medics
Thousands of patients have had to move doctors in the last year due to the widespread closure of GP practices in England, shocking new statistics reveal. Some 202 practices were closed or…Read more…
Perfect storm
Proposals to improve nurse education will be useless if the government fails to tackle the estimated shortage of 30,000 nurses in England, Unite said today (Tuesday 13 June). The warning came…Read more…
‘Desperate’ NHS funding plea
There’s no doubt that the NHS is under pressure as it faces rising demand and chronic government underfunding. But seemingly every week new figures reveal just how massive the scale of the…Read more…
‘Culture of short-termism’
A new report on the NHS by the House of Lords calling for more long-term planning and funding for the health service was welcomed by Unite on Wednesday (April 5). The House of Lords Select…Read more…
‘Enough is enough’
Unite members joined campaigners from Yorkshire and beyond as they collectively took to the streets in Leeds on Saturday (April 1) in defence of the NHS. With a turnout reportedly exceeding…Read more…
NHS agency staff back down
The back down by NHS bosses on an edict that would have restricted agency staff working in the NHS has been welcomed by Unite today (March 31). The union, which has 100,000 members in the…Read more…
The NHS’ lost £billion?
Much was made by the government about the £2bn uplift it had given the NHS in for 2015/2016 for frontline services. But where did all that money go? Nearly £1bn – almost half – went into the…Read more…