Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Commons Liaison Committee
(Picture: PA)Rishi Sunak on Tuesday refused to give any ground on NHS pay even as nurses staged their second walk out this month and a strike by ambulance workers threatened major disruption on Wednesday.
Ambulance and hospital trusts across the country have declared critical incidents as a result of “sustained” and “unprecedented” pressure on services.
With inflation hitting 10.7 per cent in November, health unions are demanding pay rises to help workers’ salaries keep up with soaring prices.
But Mr Sunak has insisted that he will not reopen the independent pay review process which resulted in an award of 4.5 per cent this year. The Royal College of Nursing is demanding 19 per cent.
Speaking to MPs on the influential Commons Liaison Committee on Tuesday afternoon - his first grilling by the Commons Committee chairs since becoming PM in October - Mr Sunak said backing down would only lead to further inflationary pressures.
He said: “I’ve acknowledged it is difficult, it’s difficult for everybody, because inflation is where it is.
“And the best way to help them and help everyone else in the country is for us to get a grip and reduce inflation as quickly as possible.
“And we need to make sure that the decisions that we make can bring about that outcome. Because if we get it wrong and we’re still dealing with high inflation in a year’s time, that’s not going to help anybody.
“I don’t want to see that, I want to see things get back to normal, and that’s why having an independent pay process is an important part of us making those decisions and getting them correct.”
Amid concerns over whether serious incidents like heart attacks and strokes will be responded to by ambulance crews during Wednesday’s strikes, Health Secretary Steve Barclay met with ambulance unions on Wednesday afternoon to demand they put patient safety first.
Following the meeting Mr Barclay said it was "disappointing" union members were going ahead with further strike action but added "my door remains open to further talks".
Writing on Twitter, he said: "I hugely value the work of our NHS staff & it's disappointing some union members are going ahead with further strike action - my door remains open to further talks.
“Unions have called for industrial action to cause maximum disruption & inevitably this will have an impact.
In a statement, Onay Kasab, Unite's national lead officer, said the meeting with Mr Barclay was "entirely pointless" as the Cabinet minister "refused to discuss pay".
The statement read: “The meeting was made entirely pointless by the attitude of Stephen Barclay who refused to discuss pay. How he hopes to get movement and resolve the dispute without discussing the key issue is mystifying.
“It is disgraceful that the Government is failing to take action to avoid NHS strikes, the unions are willing to talk but the Government isn't.
“Barclay was only prepared to talk about derogations, which was futile as these have been thrashed out and agreed down to a fine-tooth comb at a local level.
“His appeal that the agreements on emergency cover are respected was frankly insulting. Our members are taking strike action as an absolute last resort as they witness the NHS crumble on a daily basis.
“Not only are they committed to covering emergency calls tomorrow, but our members will immediately leave picket lines if a trust for any reason can't cope with emergencies."
