Health leaders urge government to engage in dialogue to avoid winter crisis

The government must do more to engage with health leaders if strike action is to be avoided this winter, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.

The news comes following the health secretary Thérèse Coffey’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference. The BMA say “very little was actually said” during the speech, and the government must do more to engage in meaningful dialogue with health leaders so they know which areas need to be prioritised and addressed.

Health secretary must acknowledge calls for fair pay, say health leaders

During the speech, Ms Coffey referred to her ‘ABCD’ list of priorities – ambulances, backlogs, care, doctors and dentists.

She said the government will increase the number of ambulance call handlers, open up more space in hospitals for around 7,000 more patients, and provide £500 million of funding for social care to tackle delayed discharges.

Ms Coffey said the government will also roll out more community diagnostic centres and new hospitals to speed up diagnosis and treatment, and ensure that patients are able to see their GP within two weeks of booking an appointment.

However, health leaders have criticised Ms Coffey for failing to address the staffing crisis in the NHS itself, which is partly driven by issues with pay.

The BMA and the Royal College of Nursing have both been campaigning for a fair pay rise for their members, and are now warning that strike action is likely unless these pay awards are fulfilled.

“Ministers must ask themselves why record numbers are quitting a career they’ve loved”

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen, said: “The Health Secretary pledged to ‘deliver’ for the NHS but she’ll struggle to deliver anything unless she urgently addresses the staffing crisis. In the week 300,000 nursing staff are being asked to vote for strike action, her speech will do little to convince them the UK government has any understanding of the scale or impact of the problem.

“Years of real terms pay cuts have forced thousands to leave the profession. We know that record numbers of nurses left the NHS in the last year and two-thirds of those were under the age of 45, well before retirement. Constant staff shortages are a direct threat to patient safety.”

Ms Cullen urges ministers to ask themselves why record numbers of doctors and nurses are quitting a career they’ve loved, and to tell health leaders what they are doing to do about it.

“Governments must urgently give nursing staff a fair pay rise to retain experienced staff. Our biggest ever strike ballot opens this Thursday and we’ll be urging members to vote ‘yes’ to strike action. Enough is enough,” she said.

Winter could be “extremely painful” for the NHS and for the country

The BMA now want the government to agree to meet with them so they are able to work together to form a plan which addresses the staffing crisis and issues with pay.

BMA chair of council, Professor Philip Banfield said: “The door is still open for dialogue, but at no point in the last month of this new Government has she shown the willingness to use it.”

Without this willingness, Prof Banfield says the government has “very dim hopes of confronting what could be an extremely painful winter for the NHS and for the country.”

The NHS Confederation have similarly called for the government to meet the shortfall in investment in public services due to inflation, invest in capital for NHS services and address the crisis in the social care workforce.

“[These measures] are critical for a more efficient, effective and sustainable NHS going forward,” says Matthew Taylor chief executive of the NHS Confederation.

“As acknowledged from the conference stage there is no prosperity without health, and in order to ensure the economic growth this government seeks they must address the financial challenges facing the NHS at the fiscal statement expected in the coming weeks. Failure to do so will stunt it,” he concludes.