Images: Steve Forrest, Workers’ Photos
The unique challenges faced by different occupations were debated at UNISON’s national health conference in Liverpool this week.
A set of motions addressed this in relation to 111 and emergency call takers, nurses and midwifery and allied health professionals.
First up, a motion about 111 or emergency call handlers highlighted the pressure they face and the stress it causes in being the first point of contact for patients facing health emergencies.
Moving the motion, Peter Stephenson (pictured top), branch secretary of South East Coast Ambulance Service said: “There are no easy roles in the ambulance service. Our colleagues would agree some of the most difficult roles are some of the worst paid.”
He noted that call handlers are “often the ones who face patients at the peak of their panic,” heralding the calm professionalism they bring to a huge variety of calls.
He told delegates that recruiting and retaining staff at such a salaries is a massive problem and argued: “We cannot allow these vital staff to bear the brunt of a lack of resourcing.”
Amanda Sweetlove from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service branch then spoke of her experience in call handling, having been a frontline paramedic for 22 years before a spinal injury sustained on the job placed her on a medical redeployment to the call handling control room.
She asked conference: “Have you ever made a phone call where five or more managerial groups could listen in to your call and intervene?
“Have you ever had to tell a computer that you need to go to the toilet? And then have the abject humiliation of a manager ask why you’ve been three times in the last three hours?”
The motion called for an analysis of turnover rates in the occupations, work to raise their profile, campaigning to insource the sector and fight any outsourcing and learning from successful rebanding campaigns.
Nursing
A motion on valuing nursing fairly was then debated. It focussed on career progression and ensuring that job descriptions are regularly updated and evaluated fairly.
Andrea Prince said: “Nurses are not being fairly valued for our work in the NHS. Most do not get their job descriptions updated to fairly reflect their duties.”
Noting the success of the Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign, she said: “Nurses have seen what UNISON can achieve, and we’ve witnessed the determination of tens of thousands of HCAs (healthcare assistants) in wining re-banding. We’re asking your support to do the same.”
The motion called for agreements facilitating automatic progression from bands five to six for early career nurses and to launch a campaign building on the publication of new job profiles and how they can be used in rebanding.
Midwifery
Next up, Gamu Nyasoro moved a motion on overcoming the midwifery crisis in the NHS. The motion noted “the alarming findings of many recent inquiries into the state of maternity services in the UK.”
Gamu said: “Within the NHS we face a crisis where women [giving birth] are not receiving the care they deserve.”
The motion claims that many midwives leaving the register cite concerns over the safety and quality of care as their motivation and that many newly registered midwives are disillusioned by high levels of pressure and negative working cultures.
Another delegate, speaking to that, said: “I’m not sure I can imagine another five years [of being a midwife] at the moment. Midwives need support and a culture that values them.”
The motion called for significant investment in midwifery and maternity, to ensure adequate support for newly qualified midwives and explore the expansion of Only Enough is Enough, UNISON’s safe staffing levels campaign to actively engage with maternity services.
Allied Health Professionals
Finally, a motion promoting the ‘social model of health and wellbeing’ alongside the ‘medical model’ was debated by delegates.
The motion highlighted the benefits that medico-scientific advances bring in increased longevity and quality of life, but noted that “the medical model tends to treat symptoms rather than causes, and therefore has little impact on the social determinants of ill health.”
Whereas the social model is person-centred, rehabilitative, supports service users to be in full partnership/control of their journey and acts as an essential complement to the medical model.
In particular, the motion highlighted the role many Allied Health Professionals play and how this better fits into the social model.
Speaking for the motion Ruby Jones, from the science therapies and technical committee, said “The social model of health and well being should not be the bridesmaid to the medical model.
She claimed that prioritising the medical model is just “robbing Peter to pay Paul” and that both models should be used together to achieve best outcomes.
The motion called on the health service group executive to give ‘parity of esteem’ to the social model in order to be able to campaign for the development of healthcare roles and career opportunities that meet our members’ aspirations.
The article Health: Occupations facing unique challenges first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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