By Charlotte Webster-
Health Secretary, Stephen Barclay has been accused of lying by Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary.
Ms Graham attacked Barclay’s comments in The Daily Telegraph that ambulance workers had “taken a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients”.
Paramedics, control room staff and support workers, who are members of the Unison, GMB and Unite unions, are striking across much of England and Wales on Wednesday
Mr Barclay in the article, accused ambulance unions of choosing to harm patients and making contingency planning more difficult.
He said unions had refused to work with the government at a national level on how they would cover emergency calls during strike action.
Unison said it was “utterly shocked” by the comments, while the GMB union said they were “insulting”.
Graham described this as “a blatant lie”, adding: “The unions have negotiated critical cover, including 999 calls, at a local level with hosts of NHS trusts. That is how it is done.
The health secretary has dismissed further pay rises for striking ambulance workers are unaffordable despite unions not demanding a specific figure, the Health Secretary has said.
Steve Barclay insisted he did not want to “divert” money from essential services, as around 25,000 paramedics and ambulance workers walk out in a dispute over pay at 10 of 11 trusts in England and Wales on Wednesday.
An estimated 25,000 paramedics and ambulance crews are due to take part in the first national strikes for more than 30 years on Wednesday, with 10 of 11 trusts in England and Wales affected.
On Tuesday night, health leaders sounded warnings of Britain was entering “a very dangerous time” and said they “cannot guarantee patient safety” during the walkouts.
The Unite, Unison and GMB trade unions, which are behind the industrial action, have asked for a pay rise above the 4.75 per cent offered by the Government in line with the independent pay review process.
Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, said striking NHS staff could ‘look forward’ to next year’s pay review CREDIT: Victoria Jones/PA
When asked by the BBC how he knew pay rises would be “unaffordable”, Mr Barclay insisted “we have a process on pay”.
“We know, for example, one of the unions on strike today has refused the deal that was offered by the Scottish Government,” he said. “And that wasn’t just for an uplift of 7.5 per cent, it was much closer to 20 per cent.
“We’ve been clear we have a process for pay which has been done independently and we’ve listened to that.”
Mr Barclay indicated that striking NHS staff could “look forward” to next year’s pay review, which will take into account current levels of inflation.
Around 25,000 paramedics and ambulance crews are due to take part in the first national strikes for more than 30 years on Wednesday, with 10 of 11 trusts in England and Wales affected.
The unions said he was at fault for refusing to negotiate on pay. .
Patient Safety
NHS bosses say patient safety will be compromised during the strike action, although unions say life-threatening callouts will still be responded to by an ambulance.
They also argue patients are already being put at risk due to waiting times, made worse by staff shortages.
In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Mr Barclay accused ambulance unions of choosing to harm patients and making contingency planning more difficult.
He said unions had refused to work with the government at a national level on how they would cover emergency calls during strike action.
Unison said it was “utterly shocked” by the comments, while the GMB union said they were “insulting”.
Mr Barclay later told BBC Breakfast ambulance unions had chosen to strike at a time “when the system is already facing very significant pressure” from increased flu and Covid admissions.
Mr Barclays blamed the said: “It is the trade unions who are taking this action at a point of maximum pressure for the NHS.”
Unions have strongly rejected Mr Barclay’s claims, and criticised his judgement.
Ms Graham said: “The unions have negotiated critical cover, including 999 calls, at a local level with hosts of NHS Trusts.
“Steve Barclay obviously doesn’t understand how these issues are dealt with in the NHS.
“That is an embarrassment for him and the government. He has now lost all credibility. Clearly he isn’t the man for the job.”
Christina McAnea, head of Unison, said the health secretary had “never specifically asked Unison for a national contingency agreement” and had acknowledged local unions had negotiated “detailed, appropriate plans for their areas”.
She has previously said any deaths during the strikes would “absolutely” be the fault of the government for refusing to open negotiations.
Ambulance response times for emergency category two 999 calls, such as strokes and heart attacks, are already twice as long as two years ago.
Unions have agreed for striking workers to leave picket lines to respond to the most serious, life-threatening calls if necessary. This contributed to some picket lines being less busy than during Tuesday’s nursing strikes.