Government plans to force NHS workers to maintain minimum staff levels during strikes have been branded a “fantasy” by unions.
Under new laws designed to limit the scope of NHS strikes last winter, ambulance associations will have to ensure 80 per cent of their total workforce is on duty during strikes.
However, the Department of Health acknowledged that this threshold is not an “exact or estimated” number “based on an analytical model,” but rather an “informed estimate” derived from “informal discussions with industry experts.”
The comments were made in a freedom of information response to the GMB trade union, which is calling for minimum care plans to be scrapped.
The union says it is unreasonable to set an 80 per cent staffing requirement for ambulance trusts as some cannot use the amount of available resources outside of industrial action.
Some trusts have vacancy rates as high as 16 per cent, absenteeism rates are high and in some parts of southern England only 72 per cent of ambulances are operational.
According to the GMB, the North West Ambulance Service has an absenteeism rate of over 8 per cent, meaning staffing levels often fall below 80 per cent on a typical day.
In a consultation on minimum service level laws, the Department of Health said its work with ambulance trusts had shown that the acceptable threshold during a strike would be “approximately 80 per cent of emergency service resources during a normal shift”.
In its Freedom of Information response, the Department of Health said: “This assessment was based on a reasonable assessment of what level of staffing, relative to a non-strike situation, might be required to achieve the proposed minimum service level (MSL), based on data provided by the Department NHS England published the Ambulance Quality Indicators and then tested this assessment in informal discussions with industry experts as we finalized the response to the consultation.
“This is a deliberately rounded and adjusted figure to avoid the impression that this figure was correct or calculated based on an analytical model, and to recognize that the proportion of employees who will have to work to meet MSL requirements will likely vary from region to region ” Region and depending on the season.”
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: “Emergency services workers across the UK left picket lines in droves to save lives during the strikes.
“The government’s own data shows that ambulance delays actually occur on strike days.
“The government has now admitted that the new restrictions on strikes are based on fantastic figures.
“Workers, ministers and the public know what it really is: a Tory plan to restrict health workers’ right to strike in secret.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Our top priority is protecting the lives and health of patients.” supported by strikes.
“The ability to strike is protected by law and our plans do not change that, but we must also strike an appropriate balance between workers’ ability to strike and the public’s rights to expect essential services to be available when they need them. “This one. them.”