When Pat Cullen, leader of England’s largest union for carers, met with British Health Secretary Steve Barclay late last year, she got straight to the point.
Their demands: If the government wants to prevent a large-scale strike by the nursing staff, it must pay more. Barclay asked for understanding that it was “very challenging” economically.
Just days later, 10,000 nurses went on strike for the first time in the union’s more than 100-year history. This week is the third round. This will be a challenge, especially for patients.
The government plans to restrict the already restrictive right to strike in Great Britain even further. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to prevent staff in vital sectors such as health, fire brigades and education from walking out to ensure basic public services.
19
percent wage increase demand the nurses in Great Britain
The clinic staff refuses to be intimidated. If no agreement is reached, they want to stop work again in February. “It was with a heavy heart” that this decision was taken, said union boss Cullen. Thousands of nurses took to the streets again on Wednesday.
It was a “desperate attempt” to save the ailing NHS health system. In order to ensure patient care, “the problem of tens of thousands of unfilled positions” must finally be addressed. According to figures from autumn last year, more than 130,000 jobs were unfilled in 2022, with more than 40,000 nurses missing.
The NHS is not just falling apart now.
Mark Dayanresearcher at the think tank Nuffield Trust
In addition to more staff, the nurses are also demanding 19 percent more wages – to compensate for inflation, which is currently over ten percent, and years of losses in real wages. The union argues that it is primarily a “salary restoration”, not a real wage increase.
Westminster sees things differently. So far, Great Britain’s government under Prime Minister Sunak only wanted to negotiate about the coming financial year and did not want to increase the offer of 4.5 percent more wages.
Too little for the striking nurses. English trade unionist Patricia Marquis said last week that “the government and the prime minister refuse to recognize that the health and care system is in crisis”. The strike is therefore not only for more money, but also “in protest against an insecure system”.
Healthcare system dependent on state budget
The crisis in the British health system NHS has been announced for a long time and in 2016 it became a symbol of the pro-Brexit campaign. Instead of sending “£350m” a week to Brussels, the NHS should be funded. The number was already wrong at the time, but hit a sore spot among the population.
Because the UK is proud of the National Health Service. Treatments are mostly free of charge, only glasses or dentures have to be paid for. Founded 75 years ago, unlike in Germany, it is based on a tax-financed standard system. This is another reason why the British health system is so closely linked to the government’s financial policy and the national budget.
The government and even the prime minister refuse to recognize that the health and care system is in crisis.
Patricia MarquisEnglish trade unionist
Decades of government austerity policies have made the already ailing system seriously ill. “The NHS is not just falling apart now,” explains Mark Dayan when asked by the Tagesspiegel. He is a researcher at the Nuffield Trust think tank, which analyzes healthcare in the UK.
The main problems – long waiting times and a lack of space in hospitals – have been known for years and “have been exacerbated by the pandemic and winter viruses”. More and more people are therefore turning to private hospitals for help. But that “undermines the principle of equality and creates a system with two levels,” criticizes Dayan. This is one of the reasons why there is a lot of backing for the striking clinic staff in the population.
According to the latest figures from the NHS, seven of the country’s 65 million inhabitants were waiting for surgery in December alone. In the event of a stroke or more serious emergencies, it takes an average of 90 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. In less urgent cases even almost four and a half hours.
7
millions of people in the UK are currently awaiting surgery
Even in the overwhelmed Berlin rescue operation, things are much faster. According to a study by the German Economic Institute, in the second year of the pandemic, 2021, it took less than ten minutes for the ambulance to reach those affected.
Staff shortages exacerbate NHS problems
The dropout rate is also a “serious problem” for Dayan. The government hardly understands the number of doctors and nurses leaving the training. Brexit has exacerbated this already tense personnel situation.
“The dramatic decline in nursing has been cushioned by strong recruitment from non-EU countries like India,” says Dayan. But there is a lack of specialists in anesthesia or psychiatry.
In order to secure the financing of the health system in the long term – and to make it less dependent on the state budget – some are now calling for a complete restructuring of the system. Instead of taxes, the NHS could be better funded through social security contributions.
Dayan doesn’t think that’s a solution: “Changing the financing doesn’t solve any problems with staff, bed shortages or equipment.”
According to the British Medical Association, at the beginning of the pandemic there were 2.2 intensive care beds for 1000 inhabitants in Great Britain – there are fewer intensive care beds in the OECD countries only in Sweden, which is similarly tax-financed. Leader Germany has more than three times as many beds as the United Kingdom.
In order to save the ailing system, Pat Cullen is still willing to talk: “I’m ready to meet halfway. The government should accept my peace offer.”
An end to the nationwide series of strikes is meanwhile hardly in sight. Teachers will take to the streets next week, and residents have announced a walkout for March.
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