NICOLA Sturgeon has confirmed Humza Yousaf will meet with nursing unions tomorrow in a bid to avert industrial action as she clashed with Anas Sarwar over the NHS.
On Wednesday, the Royal College of Nursing rejected the Scottish Government’s latest pay offer and are planning for strike action.
Earlier this month, members of Unite and Unison accepted the offer put to them.
The Scottish Labour leader said that staff in the NHS “deserved better pay and conditions” and asked if the Scottish Government would commit to negotiations.
The First Minister said: “The Health Secretary will be meeting with trade unions tomorrow, I think he was originally supposed to do that this afternoon but parliamentary business has intervened, he will do that tomorrow.
“Just as has been the case up until now, we will do everything we can to avoid industrial action in our NHS and we have, unlike England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we have so far avoided industrial action in our health service.”
Health chiefs have stepped up calls for the UK Government to negotiate with unions on pay.
Ambulance staff in England and Wales walked out on Wednesday, following action by nurses with Health Secretary Steve Barclay reportedly considering fast-tracking an NHS pay rise next year in a bid to resolve the dispute.
Sturgeon continued: “We want to obviously avoid the disruption that that will bring to patients across the country but we also want to do that because we value those who work in our NHS and I want to make sure that they get the best possible pay rise that we can give them.
“We have maximised what we can do within this financial year so compared to England where there is a Conservative government, Wales where there is a Labour government, and the health service agenda for change staff have been offered an average of 4.5%, in Scotland the offer is 7.5% on average.
“That is a sign of how deeply we value our healthcare workers and we will continue to have discussions, meaningful discussions, to do everything possible to reward them appropriately and to avoid any disruption in our health service.”
Sarwar then said patients “were being asked to accept the unacceptable” and repeatedly accused the Scottish Government of “failing” on numerous counts from A&E waiting times to cancer treatment times.
Sturgeon hit back at Sarwar, saying that “soundbites and faux anger will not address the challenges in the health service”.
She continued: “Patients and the public have a right to be angry and frustrated right now but they also have a right to expect a government that is addressing these issues.
“I am not and haven’t stood here and suggested that there are not significant and over recent months increasing challenges on the NHS and therefore on the performance measures that we have in the NHS.
“We are seeing that across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, health services across the world as the continuing impact of the pandemic and the other pressures on our NHS right now mounts.
“That’s why we are increasing investment beyond any consequential funding next year for the NHS, £1 billion extra, asking those who earn the most in this country to pay a bit more in tax so we can give more resources to our NHS.”
She added that “progress” was being made on waiting times and that more patients coming forward for treatment meant demand was increasing.
