‘Last thing’ the NHS needs are strikes, health chief warns

A health leader has urged the government to reopen talks with unions over wages, saying the ‘last thing’ the NHS needs is a four-day strike in January.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, said the current situation in the health service is “very difficult” as it grapples with too few staff and high demand exacerbated by the flu and covid.

It comes after warnings of an ‘intolerable’ situation in the NHS, with patients facing long waits for treatment, ambulances delayed and thousands of beds taken up by medically fit people who shouldn’t be there.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has reiterated its claim that between 300 and 500 people die each week due to urgent and emergency care delays and problems.

Chris Hopson, chief strategy officer for NHS England, said the health service does not “acknowledge these figures”.

Mr Taylor told BBC Breakfast: “There is no doubt that the situation is very difficult – that is why many trusts have declared critical incidents.

“We are not able to provide the level of service that we wish to provide…

“The simple reality here is that the health service is torn between the fact that it has limited capacities, particularly in terms of staffing – 130,000 vacancies – and a level of demand that is difficult to meet in time. ordinary.

“When you add the flu and Covid, which not only affects patients but also means that many staff are sick, that’s when you get to this very difficult situation in which we find ourselves let’s find.”

When asked if flu and Covid cases had peaked, he replied: “I think it’s very difficult to be clear. I don’t think the statistics would give us reason to think that we have peaked – January is normally the toughest month for health services.

“So I think the only thing we can say is that it’s going to continue to be difficult, and that’s why it’s important to be clear about the situation and it’s important to have clear messages at the audience.

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“But also…it’s really important that as ministers return to their desks that they consider ways to reopen negotiations with the unions, because four days of strike action on top of the situation we find ourselves in right now is the last thing we need.”

Ambulance staff are set to walk out on January 11 and 23 due to a pay dispute, while nursing staff will strike for two consecutive days on January 18 and 19.

Mr Taylor said that in the longer term the NHS needed ‘sustained investment’, adding: ‘The government, in its autumn statement last year, finally committed – after many many years behind – to a workforce strategy.

“Over time, if we have a good workforce strategy and it’s properly funded, it will make a difference.

“The Prime Minister has talked about the health service as a priority this year, and I think on the one hand we have to find ways to get through this winter, but on the other hand we have to commit to doing whatever do to ensure that we enter next winter in a less fragile state.

Elsewhere, Sally Warren, policy director at think tank King’s Fund, said tens of thousands of people were waiting for social care assessments, which is impacting hospitals.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that ‘while they wait their condition may deteriorate and they may end up in the NHS system, whether that’s with their GP, with NHS 111 or at the door. entrance to the hospital.

Richard Webber, spokesman for the College of Paramedics, said hospitals are “full of patients who should be elsewhere”, with many hospitals having 100 or 200 patients who should not be there due to medical fitness.

“They should be cared for elsewhere in social care; they cannot be discharged, which means emergency department patients cannot be admitted to hospital,” he said.

A joint statement from the President of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh, Professor Andrew Elder, and the President of the Society for Acute Medicine, Dr Tim Cooksley, said the groups “have never been more concerned about standards of care medical conditions in UK hospitals than we are now”.

He added: “At no time during the pandemic has the situation been more difficult. Although Covid-19 has not left us and the flu is now contributing to it, these infections are not the main cause of the problems.

“With patients waiting many, many hours to be assessed and treated, sometimes in ambulances queuing outside our hospitals, the maxim that our patients should receive ‘the right care, in the right place, at the right time’ does not has never been so far removed from the reality of what is actually provided.

“This is a central issue for patient safety and quality of care… If the current situation is not an acute care crisis, we ask our governments to define what they think is a crisis.”

Meanwhile, the Transport Secretary recommended people get vaccinated to stem the impact of Covid-19, and also said wearing a mask was “sensible” if they had to go out sick.

When asked if he would wear a mask if he was sick with coronavirus, Mark Harper told LBC: ‘First of all you should stay home if you think you have Covid or you have the flu – in fact, the most sensible thing to do is not to go out and spread it.

“If you go out, it is clear that wearing a mask is very sensible if you are sick.

“But we manage these diseases now through vaccination. People should get the Covid shot, they should get the flu shot too. »

Well over a dozen NHS ambulance trusts and services have reported critical incidents over the festive period, with the British Medical Association (BMA) saying the government’s ‘political choices’ are leading to patients’ die needlessly.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the NHS and social services had been supported by up to £14.1billion in additional funding over the next two years, plus £500million extra pounds to speed up discharge from hospitals this winter.

He added: “The Health Secretary and Ministers have met with unions on several occasions and have made it clear that their door remains open to discuss further how we can work together to improve the working lives of NHS staff. .”