NHS pay 'not fit for purpose'

Unite delegate Lesley Mansell spoke passionately in favour of a composite on NHS pay on the first day of TUC Congress on Sunday (September 8).

Lesley, who is the lead rep in her hospital, told Congress that for many years the union movement has “warned that the NHS is under severe pressure and for too long our warnings went unheeded”.

Calling on the new Labour government to “commit to proper funding” of the NHS, she added that members were alarmed to see during the general election campaign “Labour dancing to the Tory tune that ‘reforms’ alone – not new funding – will improve the NHS”.

“As reports from Unite reps on the ground demonstrate – the inevitable result is a continuation of the staffing crisis,” Lesley added.

“Just last week 100 nurses at Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospital in London intensified their long running strike – taking their dispute to the door of Downing Street.”

Lesley saluted the “brave nurses” who are taking a stand and are “at the sharp end of a spiralling crisis”.

Lesley went on to cite ONS statistics from 2021 which revealed that 50 per cent of NHS workers were reporting ill from work-related mental health, which, she said, resulted “in sick leave skyrocketing at a cost measured in billions”.

“This was exacerbated by the pandemic and it certainly has not gone away,” she continued.

“Working devoted staff into a mental health crisis is what ‘reform’ looks like without funding.

“The reform that is needed is a complete overhaul of a pay system that is not fit for purpose.”

Calling for the pay review process to scrapped in favour of direct negotiation, she explained this would be “an opportunity for the government to prove our hardworking staff are valued and respected”.

“If they don’t, they’ll find it isn’t only doctors and nurses leaving the country,” she added. “Midwives and other NHS staff are finding their skills and experience are only recognised abroad.

“The government are in danger of finding out that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”

Urging support for the composite, Lesley concluded, “we must fight to defend and improve every NHS job.”

By Hajera Blagg

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