Leaders say ‘there’s no trust left’ between unions and the government as they play down prospect of meaningful talks
Labour has renewed its call for the government to open talks with the health unions on pay. Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told Times Radio this morning:
I think everybody is deeply concerned about NHS staff on strike and the impact that will have on patient care. That is why we want these strikes averted.
That is why it is incumbent upon ministers to actually engage now in a meaningful negotiation in order to avoid these strikes.
If someone has a life and limb emergency, they should call 999. And if it’s not that kind of emergency, they will be told to seek different advice.
If they think they’ve got the kind of emergency where they would usually call 111, then they should do that, or they should consult a GP or pharmacist. They must use the usual routes available to them and take that advice. There may well be alternative advice available to them that wouldn’t ordinarily be the case.
This is going to be an incredibly challenging and disrupted week, not only because we have the ambulance service coming out on strike across nearly every region, but also because we’ve got these sequential strikes.
So we’ve got nurses’ industrial action on Tuesday, and then ambulance services on Wednesday, and I think one will impact the other.
