Commenting on today’s (13 October), report from the Health Foundation, Donna Hutton, UNISON’s head of health, said,
“The notice that the NHS in Wales could be saved from financial ruin by penalising the earnings of nurses, medical secretaries, porters and others, is not welcome. They work as hard as they can to provide the best possible care for the public and they deserve our respect and decent employment conditions. It is time that we found a different response to an old problem.
“We want immediate action to tackle the unacceptable amount spent on using agency staff. This means a cap on the fees agencies can charge.
“Adequately funding the Welsh NHS and social care should not mean there is less money for our other key local public services and UNISON continues to call for fair funding for Wales and a review of the funding formula Westminster uses to allocate money to the Welsh government.”
UNISON has called a mass demonstration at the Senedd on Tuesday 18 October 2016 at 12.30pm to coincide with the Welsh Government’s announcement of its draft budget proposals later that afternoon. Public service workers will lobby Assembly Members for fairer funding for Wales.