Private companies employing tens of thousands of staff in the NHS across England are coming under pressure to give their employees a wage rise as UNISON’s campaign for fair pay in the health service escalates. Workers at contracting giants – including Compass Medirest, Serco, Mitie and ISS – are today (Tuesday) calling on company chief executives […]
At TUC Congress in Brighton, UNISON warns that the health service could be brought to its knees without a deal
Facilities staff at Wexham Park, Frimley Park and Heatherwood Hospitals have voted in huge numbers to take strike action in an escalation of their campaign to stay in the NHS. The hospital trust plans to privatise up to 1,000 NHS cleaners, caterers, porters, security and estates staff to a new ‘wholly owned subsidiary’ company early […]
The UNISON Isle of Wight Health Branch have been extremely privileged to sponsor the inaugural ‘Unsung Heroes Awards’ recognising the unfaltering work staff within the NHS undertake 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year! Come rain or shine, hail and snow, these staff work tirelessly to care for the […]
Staff employed by private contractor ISS at Reading’s Prospect Park Hospital are today (Friday) celebrating a momentous victory following a year-long campaign to win the same pay rates as colleagues employed directly by the NHS, says UNISON. As a result of the union’s campaigning, the firm has agreed to move around 60 staff – including […]
Advice published to reassure staff and public but alert them on need for vigilance
NHS needs put before annual gathering UNISON has cancelled its annual health conference that was due to take place in Brighton from 6-8 April. The decision has been taken in light of the escalation of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The safety of participants and their families was also at the forefront of the […]
Updated rules reflect changing threat The UK Government and NHS leaders from a range of medical and nursing royal colleges have published new guidance about personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS teams who are likely to come into contact with patients with coronavirus. The guidance has been agreed by the four Chief Medical Officers, Chief […]
Isle of Wight Health Branch Secretary, Jay Chappell, has returned to the frontline during Covid-19. He told us a bit about his new ‘normal’ during the crisis. “Normally I have full time release as the chair of staff side and branch secretary. Since Covid-19 hit, normal business kind of stopped as you would expect. Social […]
Show Racism the Red Card has launched a new video which follows the stories of frontline NHS staff as they recount their experience of racial discrimination at work. The film has contributions from UNISON members and Roger McKenzie, Assistant General Secretary of UNISON, along with a number of high profile footballers from Show Racism the […]
UNISON and other health unions say NHS must continue to operate a safety-first approach
We hear from Rebecca Storer, a Health Care Assistant (HCA) and UNISON member at University Hospital Southampton, on what it’s been like working through the Covid-19 crisis, and how the crisis has led to innovations in PPE. I’ve worked as an HCA in the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at University Hospital Southampton for almost two years. We look after patients arriving from the Emergency […]
Responding to Labour leader Keir Starmer’s proposal at Prime Minister’s questions yesterday (Wednesday) that health and care staff should be exempted from the immigration health surcharge, UNISON South East regional secretary Steve Torrance said: “Dealing with the pandemic has shown more than ever how NHS and care services rely on staff from overseas. It beggars belief that […]
Agnes Sitjar, is a UNISON Steward at Andover, Basingstoke & Winchester Hospitals branch and is part of the team that was the first in UK hospital’s to develop a live test for Covid-19. Agnes spoke to us about the challenges she has been facing during Covid-19: “As a Specialist Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology in Hampshire […]
Unions agree measures to be applied locally
