Health
Health unions cancel strikes after Welsh Government’s pay offer
HEALTH unions in Wales postponed strike action due for this week following an improved pay offer from the Welsh Government.
This Monday and Tuesday (February 6 and 7), Wales would’ve experienced the worst strike action across the NHS as members of UNISON, GMB, the RCN, and the Royal College of Midwives were due to take strike action.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “This revised pay offer comprises an additional 3%, of which 1.5% is consolidated, so it will be in pay packets year-on-year, on top of the Pay Review Body recommendations, which have already been implemented in full. This offer will be backdated to April 2022. This revised package includes several non-pay commitments to enhance staff well-being, on which negotiations will continue next week.
“Whilst there is currently no improved pay offer on the table for NHS staff in England, it was also agreed that any resulting Barnett consequential following any improved offer to staff in England would result in a further pay offer to staff in Wales.
“We would like to thank those participating in the negotiations for their positive engagement and goodwill. We are awaiting a formal response from each of the individual trade unions.”
NO CERTAINTY STRIKES WILL END
While unions praised the Welsh Government for coming up with an improved offer, its acceptance is not guaranteed. Each will now consult with its members about the Welsh Government’s offer, and their members will decide whether to accept or reject it.
The amount on offer is on top of the 4.5% already imposed without negotiating with the unions.
Nathan Holman, GMB Welsh NHS lead, said: “After intense negotiations, GMB has agreed to suspend strike action while further talks take place.
“We recognise that the Welsh Government and Welsh Ambulance Service Trust have made concessions, and through social partnership, we appreciate the frank and open dialogue with them over the last few months.
“This has only been made possible because the Welsh Government has been prepared to talk about
As well as cancelling strike action scheduled for February 7, the Royal College of Midwives also suspended action short of a strike planned for February 7-14.
The RCM will consult its midwife and maternity support worker members on the new offer. Further talks are planned to address staffing shortages, working conditions and service pressures.
Julie Richards, RCM Director for Wales, said: “This has come about because of the determination of our members to make their voices heard and their readiness to act. It brought the Welsh Government to the table and led to this offer.
“WE WILL NOT HESITATE TO STRIKE”
Hugh McDyer, UNISON Cymru Wales head of health, said: “We are pleased that intensive discussion between the trade unions and the Welsh government resulted in an improved offer.
“The new offer contains an element that will be consolidated into healthcare workers’ pay, which is what UNISON has argued for throughout negotiations.
“UNISON’s healthcare committee will now meet to discuss the offer in more detail. UNISON will continue discussions with Welsh ministers on further improvements to employment conditions. We are determined to get the best possible deal for our nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants, paramedics, cleaners, porters, catering staff, admin staff and many more.
“After how they worked throughout the pandemic and how they respond magnificently to challenging situations every day, it is the least they deserve.
“It is important that our members now have their say. The decision to accept or reject this offer lies with them. We are pausing this action in good faith so that other issues – such as pressures on staff and working conditions – can also be addressed.
“Make no mistake though, we still have a very strong mandate for industrial action and will not hesitate to take it if our members reject the offer or if planned talks do not move forward as promised.”
RCN Wales Director, Helen Whyley, said: “Our strike action in December has been effective as the Welsh government has listened to the issues facing nursing in Wales and put forward an increased offer for nurses’ pay.
“Industrial action continues to be a last resort for nurses. I have heard their stories of the personal sacrifice they make daily, fighting for safe care for their patients, pushing them to vote for strike action. The pressure our members put on the Welsh government has been key to these negotiations moving forward.
“Our elected members have agreed that strike action proposed for February 6 should be cancelled and that we should put forward this offer to our members in Wales for them to decide whether it truly respects and values the nursing profession.
“The Health Minister should be under no illusion that we will not hesitate to return to strike action should the offer be rejected.”
WG HAD MONEY ALL ALONG
The Welsh Conservatives pointed to the elephant in the room, observing that the Welsh Government could have stopped industrial action and made an improved pay offer much sooner.
Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said: “This only shows that for all of this time, despite saying it didn’t, the Labour Government had the money to give NHS workers a better pay offer.
“It is also welcome to see staff welfare being included as part of this package, as we have called for, because we know that poor working conditions have hit morale hard, with many complaining of ‘burnout’.”
Plaid Cymru called the Welsh Government’s pay offer “long overdue” and has criticised them for being slow to act on the NHS pay dispute in Wales, resulting in three months of industrial action.
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru’s health and care spokesperson, said: “The Welsh Government U-turn on nurses’ pay is welcome but long overdue. If the Welsh Government had listened to Plaid Cymru, it could have avoided three months of industrial action. That’s three months during which the Welsh Government repeatedly told us there was no money when we had worked out the sums and proved it was possible!
“I’m only sorry that it took repeated strike action from our brave workers for Welsh Government to take responsibility and step up to the challenge.”
Health
Over 1500 patients in Wales blocked from leaving hospital
THE First Minister Eluned Morgan has been pressured on her government’s failure to clear hospital beds in Wales, leading to delays for people seeking urgent medical care.
According to a report from BBC Wales, there are currently 1,600 patients across Wales waiting to be discharged from hospital compared to England where there are currently 12,000.
However, when comparing population sizes, it’s revealed that Wales is performing worse than its closest neighbour, with 0.05% of the population of Wales stuck in hospital beds compared to 0.02% in England.
The Welsh Labour government have been criticised for their failure to clear out backlogs in the system,
The Liberal Democrats have now called on the Welsh Government to provide urgent social care funding to local authorities to help alleviate pressures on the NHS in Wales.
Speaking in the Siambr on Tuesday, The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS described how over twenty years of Welsh Labour government in Wales had let to a “desperate situation in our NHS, with services nearing breaking point.
Welsh Labours refusal to change their approach and fix a system clogged up by mismanagement is directly responsible for the current situation faced by thousands of patients.
Delays in discharging patients from hospitals are placing huge pressures on both staff and those awaiting care, but there is a way out of this mess and the answer lies in social care.
I have been told by numerous professionals working in healthcare that the first step towards fixing our NHS is made by providing local authorities with the funding to fix social care services within their respected areas.
By dedicating adequate investment into our social care services, we can make life easier for patients discharged from hospital while also lifting the strain on health services throughout Wales.”
Education
Concern over ‘highest-ever’ school bullying rates
RATES of bullying in Welsh schools have reached record levels, with more than one in three children and young people reporting being bullied, the Senedd heard.
Gareth Davies raised concerns about a 6% increase in bullying between 2021 and 2023, according to a survey of more than 130,000 pupils in 200 secondary schools.
The Conservatives’ shadow mental health minister told the Senedd: “These results are higher than ever previously reported in the survey, which is deeply troubling.”
He said the latest survey showed regression on “just about every metric of pupil wellbeing”, including growing social isolation and a rise in behavioural issues.
Mr Davies, who worked in the NHS in north Wales for more than a decade, pointed to a 2021 legal duty to have regard to the mental health of children and young people.
He said: “The mental health of pupils has declined and reports of bullying in schools have only increased, so the Welsh Government have failed in that duty, unfortunately.”
Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell called for an update to 2019 anti-bullying guidance for school governing bodies following a commitment from the Welsh Government eight months ago.
The shadow education secretary focused on the impact of poverty, warning the high cost of school uniforms can cause stress and lead to bullying.
Mr Campbell, a former lecturer, expressed concerns about penalties, such as detention, for pupils over non-compliance with uniform policies.
Raising a report on “horrific” experiences of racism in Welsh schools, he said one pupil was told a classmate did not want to sit next to them due to the colour of their skin.
“That’s entirely unacceptable in our schools,” said Mr Campbell.
Labour’s Carolyn Thomas warned children’s mental health is at an all-time low, pointing to smartphones and social media as major contributing factors.
She said: “They can be used to bully, manipulate and control, sending young people into an isolated world of despair, not thinking they can get out of it or go to somebody for help.”
The North Wales politician highlighted a petition calling for a ban on phones in schools.
Rhys ab Owen, an independent who represents South Wales Central, stressed that bullying can impact people for decades to come after school.
“But it’s an issue that doesn’t affect learners equally,” he said. “In Cardiff, around a third of learners come from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
“And I was staggered to read a survey from 2020, which said that 61.5% of learners had expressed stereotypes over skin colour, religion and nationality.”
In a statement on November 12 to mark anti-bullying week, Lynne Neagle accepted that bullying continues to be an issue in Welsh schools.
Pledging to prioritise the problem, Wales’ education secretary said new statutory anti-bullying guidance will be published for consultation after Christmas.
Ms Neagle pointed to concerning trends, including 42% of girls scoring high or very high in a questionnaire on psychological problems compared with 27% of boys.
She told the Senedd: “I wouldn’t want to be a teenager growing up today.”
Ms Neagle stated the Welsh Government provided more than £800,000 this year for one of the biggest surveys of children and young people in the UK.
She said: “The link between bullying and mental health is well known. At its most extreme, young people have taken their own lives as a result of being bullied. This is a tragedy for the young life lost, for their family and friends and for whole communities.”
Health
Fundraising events raise over £4,000 for ICU
VICKI COLES and Sophie Moncrieff have raised a fantastic £4,140 for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Withybush Hospital in memory of Henry Coles, Vicki’s husband.
Vicki and Sophie, with the help of their family and friends, organised a number of charity events, a charity wax, a raffle and charity night at The Bull Inn in Prendergast.
Henry sadly passed away in March 2024 and Vicki wanted to raise money to say thank you for the amazing support he received at the ICU.
Vicki said: “The care Henry received, and the support given to us by the ITU staff, was amazing and we can’t thank them enough.
“I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped at this very difficult time. We look forward to doing another fundraiser for Henry’s birthday next year.”
Katie Hancock, Fundraising Officer said: “Thank you to Vicki and your family and friends for raising an amazing amount for the ICU at Withybush, it is a lovely tribute to Henry. We hope you take comfort in knowing the funds will make a big difference to the patients, families, and staff at the ICU at Withybush Hospital.
“The support of our local communities enables us to provide services over and above what the NHS can provide in the three counties of Hywel Dda and we are extremely grateful for every donation we receive.”
For more details about the NHS charity and how you can help support local NHS patients and staff, go to www.hywelddahealthcharities.org.uk
Pictured above: Vicki Coles and Sophie Moncrieff with staff from the unit
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