Friday, August 04, 2023
Playing the blame game
With waiting times in the NHS in all three nations spiralling out of control there is no doubt that urgent action is needed to put our health service on a more even keel. What is not helpful though is government ministers seeking to blame others for their own policy and organisational failures.
The Independent reports that Rishi Sunak has blamed striking doctors for pushing up NHS waiting lists in a fiery exchange with an A and E worker.
The paper says that the prime minister was taken to task over his pledge to cut soaring waiting lists, which last month jumped to see a record 7.5 million patients waiting to start treatment. But when he was asked whether he was failing to deliver on his pledge, Sunak said “we were making progress” but said staff walkouts had undermined that progress and driven up waiting lists:
During an LBC phone-in, Mr Sunak said while nurses and some NHS workers had accepted the government’s offer, “unfortunately we still have groups of people who are not doing that”.
“They are striking and that is the reason that the waiting lists are going up,” he said.
A furious A and E registrar named Olivia said it was “amazing” to hear the PM blame spiralling waiting lists on doctors going on strike.
“You are losing staff because we are undervalued,” she said.
The British Medical Association member said: “It is not just doctors, it is everyone, we are all leaving.
“A happy workforce is your responsibility. You’re the prime minister, you are the government, your staff aren’t happy and that’s your fault.”
Mr Sunak told the doctor: “Fundamentally, you and I are not going to agree, because your union is asking for a 3 per cent pay rise.
“I don’t think that’s reasonable, I don’t think that’s affordable and I don’t think that’s fair.
“Millions of others have accepted the recommendations and I would urge your union to do the same.”
But nursing union the RCN said Mr Sunak’s comments “add insult to injury”. “Blaming nurses for the state of the NHS is a low blow,” said director Patricia Marquis.
She said NHS staff took industrial action because of the deteriorating standards of care and spiralling waiting lists - which were growing “a long time before the pandemic and strike action”.
“The prime minister should take responsibility for the knife-edge position of the NHS and not point the finger,” she said.
These strikes are not just about pay, but working conditions that have seen the health service haemorrhage staff, a major cause of longer waiting times, and the responsibility for that lies with all the governments who have responsibility for health, including Labour in Wales.
The Independent reports that Rishi Sunak has blamed striking doctors for pushing up NHS waiting lists in a fiery exchange with an A and E worker.
The paper says that the prime minister was taken to task over his pledge to cut soaring waiting lists, which last month jumped to see a record 7.5 million patients waiting to start treatment. But when he was asked whether he was failing to deliver on his pledge, Sunak said “we were making progress” but said staff walkouts had undermined that progress and driven up waiting lists:
During an LBC phone-in, Mr Sunak said while nurses and some NHS workers had accepted the government’s offer, “unfortunately we still have groups of people who are not doing that”.
“They are striking and that is the reason that the waiting lists are going up,” he said.
A furious A and E registrar named Olivia said it was “amazing” to hear the PM blame spiralling waiting lists on doctors going on strike.
“You are losing staff because we are undervalued,” she said.
The British Medical Association member said: “It is not just doctors, it is everyone, we are all leaving.
“A happy workforce is your responsibility. You’re the prime minister, you are the government, your staff aren’t happy and that’s your fault.”
Mr Sunak told the doctor: “Fundamentally, you and I are not going to agree, because your union is asking for a 3 per cent pay rise.
“I don’t think that’s reasonable, I don’t think that’s affordable and I don’t think that’s fair.
“Millions of others have accepted the recommendations and I would urge your union to do the same.”
But nursing union the RCN said Mr Sunak’s comments “add insult to injury”. “Blaming nurses for the state of the NHS is a low blow,” said director Patricia Marquis.
She said NHS staff took industrial action because of the deteriorating standards of care and spiralling waiting lists - which were growing “a long time before the pandemic and strike action”.
“The prime minister should take responsibility for the knife-edge position of the NHS and not point the finger,” she said.
These strikes are not just about pay, but working conditions that have seen the health service haemorrhage staff, a major cause of longer waiting times, and the responsibility for that lies with all the governments who have responsibility for health, including Labour in Wales.
