NEWS
Unions split over pensions proposal
with the concessions that have been wrung out of ministers.
Negotiations over NHS pensions between ministers, unions and NHS Employers have now ended, with the Department of Health having issued its ‘proposed final agreement’.
It is pushing ahead with a 2.4
percentage point rise in GP pension contributions from April 1, despite BMA opposition. The doctors’ union said the hike is being imposed on them without any agreement.
The Unite union is opposing the proposals and recommending its NHS members vote ‘no’, with
a spokesman saying: “Ministers are using these hefty increases in pension contributions as an ad- ditional unfair tax on NHS work- ers to pay for the deficit caused by reckless bankers who have played havoc with economy.”
the British
Most other health unions have said the current offer is good enough to be supported, including Unison, whose health service group was meeting on March 21 to discuss the final proposals
before its 450,000
health service members are balloted. It has sounded happy
Dean Royles, director of the NHS Employers organisation, said: “After intensive and at times chal- lenging discussions, it is right that NHS staff now have the oppor- tunity to thoroughly consider the costs, benefits and features of the NHS pension proposals and what it means for them now and in the future. We all owe it to staff to move beyond the headlines into the bones of the schemes.
“NHS trusts clearly understand the anxiety of their staff around changes to pensions and I know they will do all they can to ensure staff have access to and are sign- posted to information sources. It is essential that all parties now focus on helping staff to make informed decisions. I know this can be challenging when some unions are considering balloting for industrial action but let’s give staff some space to weigh up the issues.”
NHS 111 roll-out being ‘rushed’
The Government must delay the roll-out of NHS 111, the BMA and the Ambulance Service Network have urged.
The new non-urgent NHS phone number needs a more flexible deadline for implementation, they suggest. The BMA has written to health secretary Andrew Lansley outlining a number of serious concerns, including the procurement of providers for the service being ‘rushed through’ in non-pilot areas without careful reference to the pilots.
Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA’s GPs Committee, said: “GPs have been telling us for quite some time about prob- lems with the way the NHS 111 is being rolled out and the wider impact it could have on the health service.
“For example, in Shropshire
GPs are worried that patients will actually receive lower quality
care as the clinicians who triage all calls to their out-of-hours provider are to be replaced by non-clinicians when NHS 111 takes over. If there was a more flexible deadline in place then local commissioners would have time to work out a solution with NHS 111 so that this option could be kept for their area.”
Ambulance Service Network director Jo Webber agreed, saying the timeframes are “just too tight”, adding: “NHS 111 has massive potential to improve care for patients as it can put them in touch with the most appropriate service quickly. But it will only realise this potential if providers of services and those who commission them come together in a co-ordinated and strategic way to make it work.”
According to the latest statistics, 92% of callers were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied with the service they received.
RCGP looks to end
‘polarising’
Bill debate The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has acknowledged that with the imminent passage of the Health & Social Care Bill into law, it must work with the Government to en- sure the implementation does not harm patients.
In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron in early March, chief executive Dr Clare Gerada (below) expressed hope of finding
an “acceptable
way forward”
to achieve a better service for patients.
The letter reads: “I hope you will consider the wealth of experience that the RCGP represents, and will look at ways for us to work together to make the health service secure, stable, and safe, now and in the future.”
Dr Gerada said that while the organisation still did not agree with the Bill, it was open to working together to achieve the best result for the NHS in England.
She said: “We still want this flawed Bill, this complicated, complex Bill to be withdrawn. But we’re not politicians, we’re doctors, and it’s the 33,000 family doctors across England that are going to have to make the health service work for their patients.”
An official survey of RCGP members in January showed a large majority against the Bill.
national health executive Mar/Apr 12 | 5
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