Nhs strike

[HuffleWoof]

I'm not a nurse I'm an ODP so the RCN industrial action won't apply to me but if unison ballot for strike action I think for the first time in my career I will be striking.

Anyone else?

I support my colleagues in their strike too. It will cause chaos in theatres.

It feels crazy to even think about Striking but enough is enough

I couldn't believe the rcn is actually doing something positive though! They're usually so slow

@wenevernewthis totally agree with you.

If people aren't willing to pay more tax, then they don't deserve an NHS, specifically thinking of the 100s of billionaires that live in the UK or the 2.5m millionaires here too.

Why should people struggle to make ends meet, so you can have a hernia op on the cheap?

No, they won't, they leave to work in the private sector and/or move abroad.

As for inflation, thats over 10% and NHS staff haven't had a pay rise yet, so your logic is false.

Charity workers have bills to pay too believe it or not.

Sadly the slow privatisation alongside years of underfunding is causing deaths. This government wants the NHS to privatise just like the water/the rails and gas and electric. The reason is so that the rich can make more money. Surely that is so clear now. Even people who didn't see it before can now see what they are doing.

Strike away - why not? Whilst you're into negotiating (not negotiating) a new pay deal could you also focus on a bit of employment restructuring too?

Maybe simplify it a bit or organize it so that non-NHS mortals (like me) can relate to it and understand it a bit better?

What is it with the Banding? Are there Bands within certain job roles so you can be in NHS Admin at an Admin band or a Nurse at different Nursing bands or is it Banded differently?

Do you have Annually awarded Increments within Bands (like Teachers) just for working another Year?

Can you still do that unique NHS employment T&C thing whereby you can accrue Sick Pay for several years for any Sick Pay 'entitlement' that you didn't take?

I'm just a simple self-employed woman who is an unpaid Carer too and I'm just curious. So if anyone could explain in simple language some answers to my questions without directing me to some NHS Pay Scale Manual I'd appreciate that.

It might persuade me to be more sympathetic to your strike.

What is it with the Banding? Are there Bands within certain job roles so you can be in NHS Admin at an Admin band or a Nurse at different Nursing bands or is it Banded differently?

Bands relate roughly to job complexity. There's not an admin band and a nursing band - there will be junior administrators and low level clinical staff on a relatively low band, and senior managers and more senior clinicians on a higher band. There are examples of which job role falls into which band at www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/working-health/working-nhs/nhs-pay-and-benefits/agenda-change-pay-rates/agenda-change-pay-rates

Do you have Annually awarded Increments within Bands (like Teachers) just for working another Year?

Annual increments aren't automatic and are subject to satisfactory appraisal. They're the recognition that a nurse with 10 years experience is worth more than one with 1 year. In non-NHS roles you'd progress your career for, say, applying for another job in a different company. There's only one company you can work for if you're NHS staff, so that route is closed. Progression within your band serves a similar role.

Can you still do that unique NHS employment T&C thing whereby you can accrue Sick Pay for several years for any Sick Pay 'entitlement' that you didn't take?

No. And you can only take sick pay if you're, you know, actually sick.

YANBU if you also give up your lovely pension, golden package sick leave and extra annual leave you are getting.
I have 6 full pay sick days per year, have to pay for my private pension and if I strike my private employer will get rid of me. Let's all go on strike!

@TheHateIsNotGood

Agenda for change pau scales are applied to all nhs roles except doctors and dentists.

All roles can fit in all bands.

Nursing (untrained) goes from band 2 to band 8

Admin could also technically go from band 2 to band 8 (clerk to AGM)

The increments depend on the band. Most go up every year (higher up bands have 2 to 3 year gaps near the top) for 5 to 7 years.

And, no, you can't accrue sick pay and never have been able to. I'm not sure where you heard that.

The t and c in terms of sick pay are certainly much better than most private sector roles on equivalent pay though.

Hth but I'm not sure if your post was sincere

Good luck to you all definitely behind the strike.

Also support the upcoming bus strike.

I'm undecided

If I do strike it won't be for pay. I'm massively under paid for the stress and responsibility of my role but that's not the problem

The problem is the complete mismanagement and underfunding of the nhs as a whole

Strike action to improve pay might improve recruitment and retention?

Which might lesson some of the stress which might improve recruitment and retention

I wonder if the staffing issues are as bad in scotland? We have nursing bursaries here but afaik we are facing similar staffing issues here.
I will be a qualified nurse soon, I won’t strike. I couldn’t risk my patients welfare, I would feel too guilty.

This is exactly why I support the strikes

nothing gets better unless you make it and we can’t keep on letting this get worse

the conditions many medical professionals i know work in make them complicit to endangering their patients.

its past time a line was drawn, Rock bottom was called and improvements committed to

Unison member here and I've voted for strike action. I work for the ambulance service, I work shifts that cover 365 days a year and 24/7, I could get paid more in aldi. That's absolutely not ok

ill be voting to strike, the £1400 is an insult, as they have also changed the pension band %'s, the increase in NI, and the extra student loan repayments means the actual difference in pay is virtually nothing. Its not an increase in anything other than pension payments. And opting out of the pension is obviously not an option.

I support the strikers

Could someone advise me further on this? I work in the NHS (admin, very closely with HR teams).

I'm fairly new, not a member of a union (yet).

But if I joined, could I strike? Would it be expected? How does it work?

Patients are already being put at risk and it get worse if there isn’t action: I support the strikes.

Times are getting tough for everybody in the country right now so no, I absolutely do not support your strike action.

Nothing much will change, all that will happen is more people will die or be left languishing in pain. People with families to support who might be on even worse pay conditions than you are.

Would you (asking any NHS workers) accept a significant payrise if it meant your pension was reduced to reflect what private sector pensions most often look like?

No

Inflation hasn't been caused by wage increases, it's been caused by supply issues that have raised prices and massive profits being made by the energy and petrochemical sectors. Pegging pay sub-inflation is not going to bring either of those down.
I, ve not long left the NHS and I wholly support staff striking. They have had 12 years now of sub-inflation pay rises, so basically pay cuts, and with the cost of living increasing it's just not sustainable. The NHS is hemorrhaging senior experienced staff because those who can are jumping ship and taking retirement if they can.
Staff morale and burnout is an issue, not just over the pay, but also working conditions. It's really stressful to be continually put in a position that you know is potentially unsafe for your patients and not be able to provide the care you are trained to give.
Especially in the last few years, we were sent into covid wards without adequate PPE, no one initially knowing how serious it would be, and staff died just doing their job to then got slapped in the face with another pay cut. Its no wonder a lot of staff left.

To answer a few questions NHS AHP here. We too are being ballotted for strike action and most of us feel we have to due to pay and conditions worsening. I'm a high level clinician. I prescribe, order tests and diagnose. If I mess up patients could die and I could.be charged with manslaughter. Show me many private sector jobs where that could happen. Not finance for example. In the past 10 years, as I am at the top of my pay band, my pay has risen £7000 in total in that period. My pension which I have been paying into for 30 years at 10% of my salary ( no idea why people think we don't pay in) was originally due to be accessed at 55 now I cannot touch it without huge deductions untill I'm 67 as it's tied to state pension age unlike private pensions. Currently it's forcast to give me £14000 a year after 47 years of contributions.

Currently I have to pay approximately £350 a year to stay registered to the HPC and my professional body. This is a contractual requirement and not reimbursed. I have also recently had to pay for a course I need for my job, yes on my own credit card, we don't get company ones 2 months later I'm still waiting for the 300 back.
To further clarify we don't get bonus, company cars, free parking, work mobile phones or free Christmas parties/ gifts all of which my private sector colleagues / friends do get.
Unfortunately the public now need to realise that NHS staff are no longer doing for the love of the job or the goodness of our heart. COVID broke that for us older ones and the younger ones were already more savvy. We are highly trained and skilled professionals who expect to be treated as such. We are also tax payers who will also pay any tax rises needed.

Maybe a strike will be the straw that pushes the government to at last bite the bullet and replace the whole thing with something better.

They should copy France, Spain, the Netherlands or Germany, and get some proper value for money.

I’m a midwife

I will be striking. It’s a very sad time and I never thought I would support strike action as I hate to inconvenience our patients but the situation is now so dire it’s unsafe.

If we don’t strike to force the government to take action than we are failing our patients. We are sitting back and ignoring unsafe conditions and unsafe staffing levels. If we don’t stand up and fight we are compliant in the avoidable deaths that happen due to these conditions.

Something has got to change.