NEWS
MPS TO CONSIDER IMPACT OF PRIVATISATION AND TRANSATLANTIC AGREEMENT ON NHS A group of influential MPs is set to examine the impact of privatisation in the NHS as part of an inquiry into spending on health. The Commons health select committee last week announced an inquiry that will look at a number of issues including the potential impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The TTIP would allow private US companies to take over UK services, reduce rates of pay and introduce less favourable working conditions in the NHS, the RCN has warned. The college is lobbying European Union politicians and officials to exclude health services from the TTIP. The impact of the continued squeeze on NHS budgets will also be probed by the committee. This will include looking at the cost and quality of NHS services provided by the private and voluntary sectors. Commons health select committee chair Sarah Wollaston said the
inquiry comes as health and social care services were under great strain due to ‘budget cuts and unprecedented demand’. She added: ‘This year, the health committee intends to widen its annual public expenditure inquiry, not only to set out the extent of the financial challenge but also to
HAS THE NHS BEEN SOLD OFF, AND IF SO BY AND TO WHOM? – Sarah Wollaston
respond to the wider public questions about the NHS and social care. ‘Has the NHS been sold off, and if so by and to whom? Has it remained true to the underlying and legally binding principle that the NHS is free at the point of use, based on need and not ability to pay?’ The committee is calling for written evidence to be submitted by noon on October 24. See page 28
EBOLA NURSE CALLS ON PM FOR SPECIAL TREATMENT CENTRES
The British Nurse who became the first person in the UK to contract the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has pledged to return to the country. William Pooley, from Suffolk, was treated in an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London after being flown home last month. He was treated with experimental drug ZMapp and has made a full recovery. Mr Pooley said he plans to return as soon as his new passport arrives to replace the one that was incinerated on his return to the UK. A spokesperson from Public Health England said it was ‘highly likely’ Mr Pooley would be immune from Ebola. The nurse has now urged prime minister David Cameron to take ‘global leadership’ and dedicate vital resources to establishing treatment centres in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where patients can be treated safely by expert international staff.
Holiday underpayments being reimbursed to nurses Health boards in Scotland are reimbursing millions of pounds of backdated holiday pay to nurses after it emerged they had not received the correct sum for several years. Under changes that were introduced by the Scottish Government in 2008 in response to European law, nurses are entitled to be paid ‘as at work’, which means that basic pay should be topped up with extra payments they may receive, such as allowances for working anti-social hours. However, some boards did not implement the change and now unions are successfully challenging them. Scotland’s largest board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, has already repaid £2 million to 3,000 8 september 17 :: vol 29 no 3 :: 2014
nurses. NHS Lanarkshire has so far paid out £1.5 million to 1,498 nurses. A further 3,300 staff will be reimbursed by January 2015. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘We expect NHS Scotland boards to apply all terms and conditions correctly. Where this has not happened and there has been an underpayment, we expect boards to make suitable arrangements to ensure that staff receive any additional monies due. ‘We are working closely with boards to monitor this and ensure services are not affected.’ A judgement by the European Court in May, known as the Lock case, ruled that paid annual leave is a fundamental social
right and that holiday pay should include any commission that is directly linked to work. This means that a nurse who receives a certain amount of money under a basic contract, but also earns much more from regular extra shifts or overtime, should receive holiday pay to reflect the extra amount normally earned. Some nurses, according to Unison, could be entitled to thousands of pounds in back-dated pay.
Time limits
Unison spokesperson Danny Phillips said: ‘If any nurse thinks they have not been paid their holiday pay, they need to seek legal advice, preferably from their union. If not, then from an advice agency. ‘And they need to do this as soon as possible because there are strict time limits for making a claim.’
NURSING STANDARD
Nursing Standard 2014.29:8-8. Downloaded from journals.rcni.com by FLINDERS UNIVERSITY on 12/08/15. For personal use only.
MPS TO CONSIDER IMPACT OF PRIVATISATION AND TRANSATLANTIC AGREEMENT ON NHS A group of influential MPs is set to examine the impact of privatisation in the NHS as part of an inquiry into spending on health. The Commons health select committee last week announced an inquiry that will look at a number of issues including the potential impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The TTIP would allow private US companies to take over UK services, reduce rates of pay and introduce less favourable working conditions in the NHS, the RCN has warned. The college is lobbying European Union politicians and officials to exclude health services from the TTIP. The impact of the continued squeeze on NHS budgets will also be probed by the committee. This will include looking at the cost and quality of NHS services provided by the private and voluntary sectors. Commons health select committee chair Sarah Wollaston said the
inquiry comes as health and social care services were under great strain due to ‘budget cuts and unprecedented demand’. She added: ‘This year, the health committee intends to widen its annual public expenditure inquiry, not only to set out the extent of the financial challenge but also to
HAS THE NHS BEEN SOLD OFF, AND IF SO BY AND TO WHOM? – Sarah Wollaston
respond to the wider public questions about the NHS and social care. ‘Has the NHS been sold off, and if so by and to whom? Has it remained true to the underlying and legally binding principle that the NHS is free at the point of use, based on need and not ability to pay?’ The committee is calling for written evidence to be submitted by noon on October 24. See page 28
EBOLA NURSE CALLS ON PM FOR SPECIAL TREATMENT CENTRES
The British Nurse who became the first person in the UK to contract the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has pledged to return to the country. William Pooley, from Suffolk, was treated in an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London after being flown home last month. He was treated with experimental drug ZMapp and has made a full recovery. Mr Pooley said he plans to return as soon as his new passport arrives to replace the one that was incinerated on his return to the UK. A spokesperson from Public Health England said it was ‘highly likely’ Mr Pooley would be immune from Ebola. The nurse has now urged prime minister David Cameron to take ‘global leadership’ and dedicate vital resources to establishing treatment centres in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where patients can be treated safely by expert international staff.
Holiday underpayments being reimbursed to nurses Health boards in Scotland are reimbursing millions of pounds of backdated holiday pay to nurses after it emerged they had not received the correct sum for several years. Under changes that were introduced by the Scottish Government in 2008 in response to European law, nurses are entitled to be paid ‘as at work’, which means that basic pay should be topped up with extra payments they may receive, such as allowances for working anti-social hours. However, some boards did not implement the change and now unions are successfully challenging them. Scotland’s largest board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, has already repaid £2 million to 3,000 8 september 17 :: vol 29 no 3 :: 2014
nurses. NHS Lanarkshire has so far paid out £1.5 million to 1,498 nurses. A further 3,300 staff will be reimbursed by January 2015. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘We expect NHS Scotland boards to apply all terms and conditions correctly. Where this has not happened and there has been an underpayment, we expect boards to make suitable arrangements to ensure that staff receive any additional monies due. ‘We are working closely with boards to monitor this and ensure services are not affected.’ A judgement by the European Court in May, known as the Lock case, ruled that paid annual leave is a fundamental social
right and that holiday pay should include any commission that is directly linked to work. This means that a nurse who receives a certain amount of money under a basic contract, but also earns much more from regular extra shifts or overtime, should receive holiday pay to reflect the extra amount normally earned. Some nurses, according to Unison, could be entitled to thousands of pounds in back-dated pay.
Time limits
Unison spokesperson Danny Phillips said: ‘If any nurse thinks they have not been paid their holiday pay, they need to seek legal advice, preferably from their union. If not, then from an advice agency. ‘And they need to do this as soon as possible because there are strict time limits for making a claim.’
NURSING STANDARD
Nursing Standard 2014.29:8-8. Downloaded from journals.rcni.com by FLINDERS UNIVERSITY on 12/08/15. For personal use only.
