TUC congress: Safeguard the NHS by increasing investment and pay for staff, says CSP

_{CSP director Claire Sullivan called for more investment in the NHS. Photo: Jess Hurd}

Speaking at the TUC conference in Brighton on 13 September, CSP director Claire Sullivan moved a motion that highlighted risks to the sustainability of the NHS.

She told delegates that the health service was experiencing an ever-worsening financial situation. The CSP motion said NHS England was facing a deficit of £550 million by the end of this financial year.

And – despite the NHS workforce being passionate about providing high-quality care – the government needed to recognise that years of pay restraint and increasing workloads were having a detrimental impact.

‘NHS staff have already had six years of pay cuts visited on them,’ Ms Sullivan said. ‘This is the reward for hugely increased workloads, rising stress levels and falling job satisfaction – not because they feel less commitment to their patients, but because they know they no longer have sufficient resources to always give them the very, very best.

‘There are 82,000 unfilled posts in the NHS in England alone. And this as political pressure is brought to bear to deliver an expanded seven-day NHS.’

She added that the outcome of the EU referendum also potentially jeopardised the future of 144,000 ‘talented, dedicated and loved EU staff who currently work in our health and social care sectors’.

Ms Sullivan urged the TUC and its affiliates to make a case for increased investment in healthcare.

The motion was carried.

Author: Robert Millett