McAnea: Barclay seems to have “no room for manoeuvre” in NHS pay discussions

Christina McAnea has accused Steve Barclay of having “no room for manoeuvre” in negotiations on health worker pay after talks between the government and the unions failed to avert a strike by ambulance staff on Wednesday.

The Health Secretary met with unions this afternoon to discuss the strikes, but McAnea revealed following the meeting that “nothing” had been said about pay. The government reportedly instead sought reassurances over strike cover.

The UNISON general secretary said Barclay was “concerned about the strike, sympathetic to ambulance and other health workers but has no room for manoeuvre apparently”, adding: “I don’t know where we go with this.”

The union leader continued: “I’m a negotiator, and my view is you go in prepared to make some concessions, you go in prepared to talk about the parameters within which you can make decisions.

“But we’re not being given any room for manoeuvre on this, and therefore their position is fixed, and we have no option but to take strike action and consider strike action in January.”

“There was nothing about pay. He was very clear about that, and I was very clear that without that there’s nothing we can do about the strike,” McAnea added.

Barclay tweeted following the meeting: “I hugely value the work of our NHS staff [and] it’s disappointing some union members are going ahead with further strike action – my door remains open to further talks.”

The Health Secretary said his priority “remains patient safety” and that there are “contingency plans” in place. He added: “Ultimately, union demands are unaffordable during these challenging times, but as I’ve said before, I’m open to engaging with unions on how to make the NHS a better place to work.”

Unite representative Onay Kasab, who also attended the meeting, said: “I went in full of hope. Unfortunately, I’ve come out very, very disappointed, because all the Secretary of State wanted to talk about is what’s been done already, the discussions at a local level to make sure that emergencies are covered tomorrow.

“The government have got to engage on pay because these strikes will escalate otherwise, that is the reality. Our members are absolutely determined to win, not just the pay battle, but to win the battle to save the NHS.”

Ambulance staff across most of England and Wales are due to go on strike on Wednesday in a coordinated walk-out by the three main ambulance unions, Unison, GMB and Unite.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham today accused Rishi Sunak of an “abdication of responsibility” over the strike, declaring: “It is well beyond time for him to intervene and break the deadlock in the NHS dispute.”

Ministers reportedly did not discuss the strikes by NHS workers during a cabinet meeting this morning. A No 10 spokesperson said following the meeting: “They talked about strikes in the COBRA session yesterday.”

In an interview with the Daily Mail, published today, Sunak pledged to resist “unreasonable” union demands and suggested it was too late to improve pay offers in this financial year. He also admitted that Britain could face months of strikes.

The Prime Minister said: “The government is doing everything it can to be responsible and put in place contingency measures to support people, but ultimately I will continue to urge the unions to call off the strike, because that’s what is causing disruption to people’s lives That is what is having an impact on their health.”