NHS staff ‘want to work weekends and evenings to cut waiting list’, South Ribble election candidate claims
It was NHS staff themselves who suggested more weekend and evening working to help reduce waiting lists.
That was the claim of the Labour’s general election candidate for the South Ribble constituency who was speaking about his party’s policy to expand the operating hours of facilities used to deliver pre-planned care.
Paul Foster made the comments at a hustings event, during which his Conservative opponent Katherine Fletcher described the ongoing pay demands of junior doctors as “absolutely criminal”.
The pair were amongst the candidates fielding questions from members of the public, one of whom asked – in a pre-submitted poser – what each of the parties would do “to support staff morale, recruitment and retention in the NHS”.
The Liberal Democrat representative for the seat said the key was to relieve the pressure currently felt by NHS workers, while Reform UK proposed offering staff a major tax break.
Paul Foster told the audience that the government “needs to listen to its staff and treat [them] with some respect”. He claimed that the same Conservative administration that had clapped for the NHS at the onset of the pandemic had since “targeted” unions, resulting in waves of strike action across different disciplines.
“We need to change the rosters for the staff and the working cycle for the staff. The Labour Party…has stated we’re going to create 40,000 additional [elective hospital] appointments per week – and we’re going to do this in conjunction with the staff.
“The doctors and nurses within our wonderful NHS are the best people to decide what’s best for the NHS and how to deal with the challenges that we have. They don’t want people to have to wait two years for a scan.
“We’re going to start using facilities into the evenings and at weekends – and guess who mentioned that to us, who proposed that to us? The staff,” Mr. Foster explained.
Tory candidate Katherine Fletcher – South Ribble’s most recent MP – defended her government’s record, stating that it had achieved what no other had done “for decades” by drawing up “a long-term workforce plan…to understand what training places [are needed].”
She added: “I’ve personally campaigned to make sure that UCLan’s [the University of Central Lancashire’s] medical school places increase, because they’re a very paltry figure – and we want local doctors trained here from our local community to work in local hospitals.”.
However, Ms. Fletcher – who also claimed credit for securing a replacement for the Royal Preston Hospital to be built somewhere in South Ribble – blasted striking junior doctors for “holding out for a 35 percent pay rise – and it is absolutely criminal”. She said it was “letting down their other colleagues within the NHS”, who had agreed to reforms of terms and conditions.
The junior doctors committee of the British Medical Association – whose members began a five-day walkout exactly a week ahead of polling day on 4th July – says its 35 percent claim is needed in order to restore the pay junior doctors have lost over the past 15 years.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat candidate Ange Turner said her party had put an “£8bn package” at the heart of its election campaign to “invest in health and care”.
“In order to boost people’s morale, you need to make sure that they’re not overworked – and we want to put plans in place so that staff do not have to work outrageous hours under pressure, being tired and fatigued and potentially that [situation] affecting their decision making.
“We want to see an extra…8,000 doctors. We want guarantees for dentist appointments for everybody and we want to see…mental hubs for young people in the community. All this will…reduce the burden on the NHS and spread out the workload, which will hopefully benefit the morale of staff,” Ms. Turner added.
Andy Hunter, standing for Reform UK in South Ribble, championed the party’s proposal for “all frontline [NHS] staff…[to] pay zero basic-rate tax for three years”.
“That’s going to keep people in the NHS – and it’s going to attract people who have left the NHS to come back.
“We’re going to end training caps for UK medical students. That means UK medical students will graduate into their profession in the UK. We’re going to write off student fees if they stay in the UK.
“They’re the sort of things that might just motivate people to want to work here,” Mr. Hunter said.
Stephani Mok, who is standing for the Green Party in South Ribble at the general election, was unable to make the hustings, which was held at Penwortham Golf Club and staged by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Lancashire Post, Lancashire Lead and Blog Preston.