“Departments will continue to deliver overall spending plans set at the Spending Review 2015” That was how the Chancellor used the Autumn Statement to respond to the crisis in our NHS and social care services. The NHS, deep in funding crisis, wasn’t mentioned once –…Read more…
Chancellor should ensure more money for a fairer deal on migration
Yesterday the TUC released a report calling on the Chancellor to use the Autumn Financial Statement on Wednesday to significantly increase the amount going to a Migration Impacts Fund so that areas that have experienced industrial decline, cuts to services and significant recent increases in…Read more…
3 reasons why Philip Hammond should Fully Fund our NHS
SIGN THE PETITION HERE Your colleagues say it needs more money Yesterday the Health Select Committee – a group of MP’s with a Conservative majority – accused Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt of giving the “false impression” that the NHS was “awash with cash”, following the government’s pledge to…Read more…
Huge government reforms are stopping the effective delivery of justice
Our system of justice has become unaffordable to most. This sentence isn’t an exaggeration, placed at the beginning of this post just to get your attention. It is in fact a direct quote from Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, aka the head of our judiciary and president of our courts. A new…Read more…
Public services campaign making its mark, NEC hears
Executive agrees report on campaign speaking up for members and public services ‘in the worst of political circumstances’
The article Public services campaign making its mark, NEC hears first…Read more…
UNISON wins Mumsnet
We’re big fans of Mumsnet at UNISON, and following a discussion thread about our public service champions campaign last week, we’re even bigger fans.
The article UNISON wins Mumsnet first appeared…Read more…
Record investment or NHS funding crisis? The stats behind Theresa May’s spending boast
“Let us take this opportunity to show that we, the Conservative Party, truly are the party of the workers. The party of the public servants. The party of the NHS. Because we believe in public service. We believe in investing in and supporting the institutions that make our country great” Thus spoke…Read more…
Labour must be electable to protect public services and win for working people, says UNISON
Labour can only win for working people and protect public services by being in government — and putting an end to the infighting that has plagued the party in recent months, says UNISON general…Read more…
UNISON launches UK-wide campaign to celebrate public service champions
A UK-wide campaign aimed at reminding the public of the importance of public services –and those that provide them – is to be launched later today (Monday) in Liverpool. UNISON general secretary Dave…Read more…
Leavers ♥ NHS. Remainers ♥ NHS. Isn’t it about time to fund it properly?
The NHS funding crisis is well documented – descriptions of ambulances queuing to get into A&E, drastic cuts to budgets and the unprecedented numbers of NHS providers in the red (to name but a few) continue to dominate news headlines. The NHS – and how much money it gets – was a key issue…Read more…
Railway infrastructure: a no-brainer for Britain
Since at least the financial crisis the TUC has argued for increased infrastructure spending as part of a coherent industry plan. From 2010 the coalition government did the opposite, cutting spending with no coherent strategy. In economic terms the con…Read more…
Is the Daily Mail right about increasing strike action? (Spoiler: No)
The Daily Mail took the TUC to task this week over claims made by our General Secretary, Frances O’Grady that industrial action was not on the increase and that the number of strikes were “very, very low”. Referring to industrial disputes on Southern, ScotRail and Virgin East Coast, the Mail…Read more…
We need a properly funded NHS – make your voice heard
This week’s news that United Lincolnshire Hospital’s NHS Trust will be closing its A&E department in Grantham in the evenings due to staff shortages is, in the words of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, “disappointing, yet unsurprising”. The TUC and health unions, campaigners and think…Read more…
Keep guards on trains
For many years’ train travel was a no-no for certain groups of disabled people, even when accompanied. Today as the system becomes more accessible, albeit slowly, disabled people are facing the prospect of new barriers replacing those that we had broken down. Gone are the days when the only way for…Read more…
NHS funding ‘reset’ – Austerity comes first
In a stark comments given in an interview to the Health Service Journal this week, Jim Mackey, head of NHS Improvement made clear the new policy priority for the NHS – austerity comes first. Ahead of a set of announcements for further belt tightening expected soon – what’s been termed the NHS…Read more…
Passengers want a properly staffed railway, not more driver-only-operated trains
“We were travelling on a Southern train from Shoreham by Sea to Southwick just after 11pm one night when the train suddenly stopped just short of Southwick. Someone had got onto the track, so the power was cut. The guards announced that the lights would be turned off to keep some power in the…Read more…
Jobs and services at risk in Hull
UNISON branch warns about future of services as council seeks voluntary redundancies in face of government cuts
The article Jobs and services at risk in Hull first appeared on the UNISON National…Read more…
Our NHS is safer in Europe: #NHSsaferIN
Today I’m proud to be joining NHS staff and supporters at a rally at Congress House. We’re coming together to say don’t risk a leave vote – Don’t risk our NHS. And there’s a lot to concern us, whether we work in the NHS or rely on it for our families’ health care. To start…
The post…Read more…
Brexit could cost us 1 in 9 doctors and 1 in 6 nurses – #NHSsaferIN
By the latest HSCIC statistics almost 10,000 doctors and over 18,000 nurses have been able to come from the EEA area to work in the NHS – that’s about 9% of all doctors and 6% of all nurses. 10,000 more EEA migrants are employed as support staff. While migrant workers should not be used…Read more…
Would you trust this bunch of Brexiteers with the NHS? #NHSsaferIN
One of the strangest sights in this referendum has been the line of Brexit leaders queueing up to piously claim they’re really in this to help save the NHS. From early on, they’ve touted that leaving the EU would free up £350m a week to spend on the NHS. It doesn’t take long to debunk…
The…Read more…