The government has “significantly mishandled” the ongoing dispute over healthcare workers’ salaries and could have easily avoided a wide-ranging strike, according to a former health minister.
Stephen Dorrell, who was foreign secretary under Conservative Prime Minister John Major, said it was “strongly clear” that pushing the NHS to the brink would lead to strikes, while berating ministers for ignoring warning signs.
“In my opinion, the government has grossly mishandled this,” he said. I. “I don’t think they didn’t know that steps had to be taken that had a high chance of preventing it.”
The former Tory Health Minister, who is now a fellow Liberal Democrat, has urged the government to reconsider elements of the NHS pay review body that recommended higher wages for healthcare workers before inflation hits double digits.
In July, the commission recommended a pay increase of around £1,400 for all NHS staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland this year, with an average salary increase for nurses of around 4%.
Health Minister Steve Barclay declined to talk to union leaders about raising workers’ wages, saying the government had fully accepted recommendations from independent wage watchdogs.
Cabinet ministers also argued that demanding public sector wages would create a “wage spiral” and drive inflation above its current level of 10.7 percent.
Mr. Dorrell said: “I think they should change their position to first contact the review body. They deliberately ruled it out very stupidly.
“There are ministers here who like to wear Margaret Thatcher clothes. But in fact, the argument about the impact of public sector wage increases on inflation was exactly what Margaret Thatcher herself always rejected, ”he said.
“This is much closer to Ted Heath’s arguments, which will certainly not please Conservative ministers.”
Sir Edward Heath, a former Conservative prime minister, refused to give in to union demands for higher wages in the 1970s, saying it would lead to “inflationary surges”.
Mr. Dorrell, who served as Secretary of Health from 1995 to 1997, added that he “never saw the National Health Service under the pressure it is now.”
“I don’t remember the top leadership of the NHS ever saying, as they do today, that public safety is at risk,” he said. “As for any high-ranking head of the civil service, I think it’s unprecedented.”
It comes after more than 25,000 ambulance workers marched across England today in an ongoing dispute over wages and working conditions.
Health officials have urged the public to dial 999 only in emergencies, and patients only receive a response if they have an immediate life-threatening condition, known as “category 1 calls.”
The union action, which marks the first ambulance strike in 30 years, resulted in eight out of 10 major ambulances across the country reporting critical incidents.
Ambulance personnel joined thousands of nurses who left on Tuesday for a second day to join pickets across the country.
Saffron Corderi, acting director of NHS Providers, said the effects of the strike are likely to “spread in the coming days due to the impact on various parts of the healthcare and care system.”
“Patients who may have been delayed in seeking care and whose condition has worsened and who are currently seeking treatment are of particular concern,” she said, adding that a flood of emergency calls is expected in the coming days.
This sparked speculation that Mr. Barclay might ban paramedics from striking in the future after the health minister said ministers would be monitoring the aftermath of today’s strike.
“It will be a government-to-government decision, but we need to look at the evidence of what is happening today,” he told LBC, adding that unions are “endangering lives” by staging large-scale strikes.
However, his comments drew backlash from health sector officials. Mr Dorrell said I: “When politicians can’t think of anything else, they pass a law.
“Public sympathy for healthcare workers, beyond the pandemic, is huge. This was one of Harold Macmillan’s famous sayings that there are groups in society that the government cannot beat, and the Royal College of Nursing was one of them.
Christina Macanea, general secretary of Unison, said Mr. Barclay was “completely disingenuous” when he said unions were putting patients’ lives at risk.
“We have done everything possible to minimize the impact, especially for the most vulnerable and worst cases,” she said.
“Those who call [who] would be considered Category 1 or Category 1, might be better served today as it only targets those groups, which sounds a bit odd.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.