Speaking ahead of this week’s planned ambulance strike, health secretary Steve Barclay has said that unions must “meet their obligations” to ensure that emergency cover for patients is provided.
Paramedics, control room staff and support workers in England and Wales will down tools on Wednesday (December 21) as part of the industrial action and will respond only to life-threatening calls.
However, the health secretary has said that unions are dutybound to ensure that staffing is “sufficient” in order to guarantee patient safety, warning that there was still a lack of clarity as to exactly what level of service could be expected.
Unions Unison, GMB and Unite who are co-ordinating the strikes have said that discussions with ambulance trusts over staffing for the strike day are ongoing, and that the power to avert industrial action lies in the hands of government.
Sharon Graham of the Unite union said that it was the health secretary who was “holding the country to ransom” as opposed to striking workers, and that he needed to open pay talks to stop the strikes going ahead.
While members of all three unions will walkout this Wednesday, GMB members are staging a further strike on December 28.
Meanwhile, Unison and nurses' union the Royal College of Nursing have separately suggested that more strikes could take place in the New Year if a settlement cannot be found.
The unions are continuing to pursue pay rises in excess of inflation for health workers, but the government remains firm in its stance that what is being demanded is unaffordable.
The Westminster and Welsh governments have already awarded NHS staff an average pay rise of 4.75 per cent and Barclay insisted that this has been carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review body.
Yet, Unison’s health lead Sara Gorton has said that the government is capable of initiating “genuine talks” and putting “a better pay offer on the table.”
Gorton said: “Ministers should take their heads out of the sand, stop pretending they can't boost wages and stop ignoring a worsening staffing crisis.”
The government’s emergency Cobra committee will again convene on Monday morning to discuss plans to mitigate the impact of Wednesday’s strike.
