He also urges striking nurses and ambulance personnel to “honor promises” regarding patient safety.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay is rumored to be writing to the unions to request further negotiations regarding strike action, but sources indicate that he will not consider wage increases.
This week, both nurses and paramedics will participate in walkouts in protest of wages and working conditions.
Pat Cullen, the head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), has proposed that if Mr. Barclay initiated salary negotiations, strikes would be called off.
A government official insisted, however, that he would only discuss “patient safety and non-payment issues.”
The RCN is asking for a salary increase that matches inflation plus 5% for its members, but the government will only offer roughly 4%, as suggested by an independent pay review group in the summer – before inflation reached record highs.
Rishi Sunak stated on Monday that the government has been “reasonable and fair” during the bargaining process and that boosting the offer would simply lead to an increase in inflation.
“We’re always willing to sit down and engage with folks to find solutions to complex problems like this,” he said. This has always been the case, and when it comes to paying, we have an independent mechanism since these things are complicated.
“The government adopted these recommendations their whole across the public sector, even though in many cases they were more than what the government had first proposed and greater than what many employees are receiving in the private sector.
“However, the government boosted its offer to embrace these independent suggestions in their entirety. I believed that was the reasonable and just thing to do.”
Mr. Barclay told reporters on Monday that trade unions should accept the pay review figure, stating that nurses he met with had additional problems they wanted to be addressed.
They also emphasize the importance of the estate and our new hospital construction plans,” added the health secretary. “They frequently discuss their issues with technology and how we must invest more in that area.
They occasionally discuss the abuse they receive and safety concerns, as well as how we can work together to improve employee safety.
“Therefore, nurses express a variety of concerns with me. Several other factors are important to staff, and I’m eager to engage with the trade unions to address those as well.
Mr. Barclay assured reporters that his contacts with Number 10 would stay private in response to reports that it had opposed the notion of a one-time payment to nurses to prevent strikes.
In the meantime, the minister questioned the security of the approaching ambulance strikes.
Staff will continue to respond to the highest degree of emergencies and are formulating contingency plans, while the government prepares to deploy 1,200 personnel from the armed forces to fill some of the gaps.
A government COBRA emergency meeting was also held this morning with department leaders to discuss the strikes.
However, Mr. Barclay asserted that the unions had not yet agreed on “the actual arrangements” at this late date.
“The labor unions must uphold the agreements they’ve made to protect both life-threatening and emergency responses,” he said.
Life-threatening and emergency calls must take precedence over all other patient safety concerns.
Unite chief Sharon Graham, who represents some ambulance workers, stated that the health secretary would “had to carry the can” if patients suffered, telling the Daily Mirror that he was “keeping the country hostage” by refusing to discuss pay.
Unions have also criticized the deployment of military troops, claiming that they are not “sufficiently trained” and could be a “hindrance.
The chief of the armed forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, warned that it was “dangerous” to expect the military to be frequently deployed to cover for attacks.
The Cabinet Office published a new Resilience Framework today, stating that it would “strengthen how the UK prepares for and responds to emergencies” – including strike action – and that it “anticipates” the Army Reserves will “play a greater role in resilience operations and MACA (Military Aid to the Civil Authorities) in the future.
In addition to nurses and ambulance personnel, rail workers, Border Force officials, driving examiners, road workers, postal workers, and Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) employees are conducting walkouts this week.
The official spokesman for the prime minister stated that it was not too late to call them off, stating, “We would expect, given the late stage, that disruptions will occur anyhow, but it is still within the unions’ power to reconsider their strategy.
“We are willing to engage in additional discussions if they are willing to do so. We feel we have followed a fair and reasonable approach throughout, including accepting the proposal of the pay body in its whole.”
