Widespread NHS strikes are “a badge of shame for the government”, Sir Keir Starmer has stated.
The Labour chief made the remark as tens of hundreds of NHS workers – together with nurses and ambulance staff – staged the largest walkout within the organisation’s historical past in England and Wales.
Unions are demanding pay rises amid the continuing price of dwelling disaster, together with improved circumstances, however the authorities won’t budge on wages, saying the present 12 months’s supply won’t be elevated.
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Sir Keir stated the general public could be “absolutely flabbergasted that the government is still sitting this one out, not showing any leadership in the middle of a cost of living crisis, making the situation much worse than it otherwise would be”.
He instructed broadcasters: “Nobody wants to see these strikes, nobody wants to be on strike – the last thing nurses want to do is to be on strike.
“What they do need is a authorities that may present management, get across the negotiating desk and settle this dispute.”
Health secretary Steve Barclay said the government had accepted “in full” the recommendation on wage increases from the independent pay review body, adding: “Of course that got here on prime of the three% that was awarded the earlier 12 months to the NHS when different public sector staff had a pay freeze.
“But it’s proper to recognise that there have been ongoing pressures on the NHS, inflation has been greater since final 12 months’s pay overview course of was initially forecast… and that is why we’ve bought the proof when it comes to this April that we’re working with the commerce unions on that, which can replicate inflation and the circumstances.
“It should be done through the independent pay review body process which can look both at what the NHS needs but also the wider needs of the economy and the other pressures that many of your viewers are facing.”
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Earlier, the top of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, instructed Sky News her members had been “punished and left behind by Rishi Sunak”.
She stated additional strikes this week could be known as off if the prime minister got here to the desk and made a pay supply, however as a substitute he has “turned his back on these nurses”.
Unite boss Sharon Graham additionally instructed Sky News she had “not had one single meeting on pay with the government”, telling ministers to “stop the politicking [and] get round the table”.
“Let’s get this deal done,” she added. “Put it out to the members and everybody can go back to work.”
However, well being minister and former nurse Maria Caulfield urged unions to name off the commercial motion, saying: “There is a risk to patients the longer that strikes go on.”
She instructed Sky News the “door was open” for negotiations on subsequent 12 months’s pay settlement, including: “We’ve got patients waiting for routine procedures, we’ve got one of the busiest winters we have ever had, with record levels of funding going into the NHS to try and manage services, so every percent of a pay increase takes money away from that.”
But the deputy chief government of NHS Providers – which represents trusts across the nation – urged ministers to assume once more.
“I think that we need to recognise that NHS staff have faced soaring costs, cost of living has gone up, inflation has gone up, and the settlement from this year’s pay review body was made at a time when inflation wasn’t at the levels it’s at at the moment,” Saffron Cordery instructed Sky News.
“So I think it’s really important that we focus on getting a deal for this year, as well as then thinking about what next year’s pay deal looks like.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman stated the strikes have been “deeply regrettable”, however stated it was “within the gift” of the unions to convey them to an finish.
Source: information.sky.com”