Doctors in crunch meeting with Health Secretary tomorrow - latest updates

Harper says it's 'unfair' of union chief to claim there's 'zero' chance of deal

Mark Harper has said it was "unfair" of the train driver's union chief to claim there was "zero" chance of a deal which would end strikes, as a new offer is now on the table.

The Transport Secretary told Sky's The Take With Sophy Ridge: "I thought was a bit unfair."

He said when he met Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary "made a perfectly reasonable point" that "his union haven't been given an offer yet".

But, Mr Harper said, "things have actually moved on".

"He's had an offer. He's in a position now where his union can sit down with the Rail Delivery Group which represents train operating companies and talk it through, talk through reform, talk through the money and there's at least the basis for a conversation there."

Around 100,000 civil servants to strike on same day in major escalation of dispute

Around 100,000 civil servants will stage a 24-hour strike on the same day next month in a major escalation of the bitter dispute.

Workers at 124 Government departments are expected to walkout - disrupting airports and public services including benefits, passports, and driving licences.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said it will be the largest civil service strike for years in the row over pay, pensions, and conditions.

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Greggs, Costa & Pret coffees have 'huge differences in caffeine', says report

Placards are seen as driving examiners and supporters picket outside a Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency office (Getty Images)

Barclay expresses interest in examining data for no-shows

Health Secretary Steve Barclay expressed interest in examining data on patient no-shows for appointments in a bid to free up more slots.

He told MPs there are 7.2 million people on the waiting list, of which one million relate to patients who require surgery and around six million for outpatient appointments.

Mr Barclay said: "The NHS is doing over 94 million outpatient appointments a year, of which 30 million are new patients and 64 million are follow-ups. And the 'did not attend' rate is around 6.5%."

He added: "If we were to halve this it would free up almost four million slots ... I'm very interested in looking at the data and how we prioritise within that data, within what is a wider challenge around the elective backlog."

Mr Barclay went on to criticise Labour's motion, saying it "ignores" recent Government announcements and extra funding commitments.

Senior doctor tells ministers to drop 'patient-blaming language'

Scottish ministers have been told by a senior doctor to drop "patient-blaming language" around "unnecessary attendances" at emergency departments.

Lailah Peel, deputy chairwoman of the British Medical Association Scotland, said the messaging - which urges patients to seek alternative support from NHS 24, pharmacies or GP practices - is unhelpful, especially as delayed discharges remain the main concern over hospital capacity.

On Monday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged patients not to attend A&E unless their condition is life-threatening as she warned that hospitals are nearly full.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said that messaging is "sending the wrong signal" and could lead to people who do require emergency care avoiding hospitals.

Dr Peel wrote on Twitter: "Lots of chat right now about reducing pressure on A&E seems to be focussing on 'unnecessary attendances' to A&E.

"This shows a lack of understanding of the current crisis. Exit block is the problem in A&E - the lack of flow through our EDs. Not the number of people turning up."

Lots of chat right now about reducing pressure on A&E seems to be focussing on “unnecessary attendances” to A&E.

This shows a lack of understanding of the current crisis.

Exit block is the problem in A&E - the lack of flow through our EDs. NOT the number of people turning up.

— Lailah Peel (@lailahpeel) January 11, 2023

'It's about patient care and it's just not acceptable'

Rachel and Laura explain why they are on strike today. Thanks to Tanya Palmer for the interview at Staverton Ambulance Station, Cheltenham #ambulancestrike pic.twitter.com/EOxwBohfSa

— UNISON South West (@UNISONSW) January 11, 2023

NHS physiotherapists to stage two days of strikes

Physiotherapists are to stage two strikes in the coming weeks in a dispute over pay and staffing.

NHS physiotherapy staff across England will strike on January 26 and February 9, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) announced.

Further dates will be announced if no improved offer is forthcoming from the government, said the CSP.

The planned industrial action follows the CSP achieving mandates to strike in 119 NHS employers, covering 13,500 physiotherapy staff, across England through ballots held at the end of last year and this month.

The January 26 action will involve up to 4,200 CSP members.

The CSP participated in talks with the government earlier this week but said the lack of a concrete offer meant there was "no option" but to announce strike action.

Nurse burnt out after year working in NHS now makes more money serving ice cream

A nurse who quit her job in the NHS after feeling "very stressed" by the working conditions said she now earns more money working in an ice cream parlour.

Mailu Turner qualified as a mental health nurse in September 2021 and claims she was soon left in charge of up to 16 patients - reportedly more than double the recommended ratio set out by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The 22-year-old, who worked for Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber Foundation Trust, claims she would regularly feel 'very stressed' and often finish her shift hours late as there were no other nurses to take over.

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Striking paramedics rushed from picket lines to save patient having cardiac arrest

Striking paramedics rushed from their picket lines to save a patient having a cardiac arrest.

The Mirror watched as a crew dropped their placards and jumped in a van at Anfield ambulance station in Liverpool, Merseyside.

Their colleagues told us that they had to leave immediately to go to the emergency callout despite being off work for the industrial action.

They told us army personnel who had been drafted in to help cover the gaps during the strike needed assistance on the life or death callout.

Colin, a paramedic who only wished to give his first name, told the Mirror: "They're going to a cardiac arrest.

"Some people from the army are helping out while the strike is on but they shouldn't have been called to that.

"They need some assistance so our guys are going out to help. They're not meant to be working but even on strike we won't leave someone in need."

Ambulance and paramedic workers leave the picket line (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Ambulance staff slam Sunak for using jet

Ambulance staff have slammed Rishi Sunak as “disgraceful” for getting on his taxpayer funded private jet while people are dying in the back of ambulances.

Nicola Tipney, a 999 dispatcher in Speke, Liverpool, 38, said: "I think he should be utterly disgusted with himself right now, getting on his plane while people can't even get in an ambulance. He's in lala-land."

Her dispatch colleague, Alicia O'Brien, 49, said: "Shows the level of somebody who is completely out of touch with what is going on. How can he understand anything we're taking about or what the country is asking for when he's doing that."

Paul Gamble, 45, paramedic from Anfield, Liverpool said: “The fact he can get on a private jet while people are dying in the back of ambulances is just disgraceful.

He added that Sunak and Steve Barclary are “not in the same world as us”.

“You can see it with your own eyes, you only have to watch the news to see what is going on out there" he said.

“We’re sitting in ambulances for up to 7 or 8 hours with patients that would normally be in resus but they haven’t got the beds. We’re sitting there and watching their demise in front of us.

“I’ve seen someone having a stroke in the back of the ambulance and we couldn’t do anything for them, it’s just not good enough.

“We’re all medics, we all do our best but we are human at the same time. We have grandads, nans, mums, dads, sons and daughters, we’re watching people with their families next to them crying because they can’t get the medical treatment that they need and there’s nothing we can do.

Colleague, Angela Gregory, 62, who works in the patient transport service based in nearby Toxteth, lashed further criticism on the PM.

She said: “What gets me mad about Rishi Sunak is that he’s hearing about sick people in corridors with their families and he still has that smile on his face.

“It doesn't affect him or them in government, because they don’t have to do this, they have all got private care.”

Rishi Sunak boards an RAF plane as he heads to visit the Rutland Healthcare Centre at the Leeds Community Healthcare (Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street)

Emergency operations staff responding to 999 calls

Staff working at the London Ambulance Service emergency operations centre in Newham, east London

Staff working at the LAS emergency operations centre in Newham, east London (PA)

Ambulance staff 'burning out and leaving profession'

Thomas Roberts, 28, said London Ambulance Service staff are “burning out” and leaving the profession.

Although the paramedic loves his job, he fears he may be forced to look for alternatives if pay and conditions don’t improve.

He told the Mirror: “I love my job but at the rate it’s going at the moment - burnout is high among us.

“I have had my own mental health issues because we are so burnt out.

“And to top it all off I can’t afford to buy my own house because I don’t have enough money.”

He added: “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to have to get a second job part time. I don’t want to do that because I don’t want to be any more burnt out than I already am.”

He said he often has to apologise to patients for “horrendous” waiting times.

He added: “At the moment ambulance wait times are horrendous. We are getting to patients who have been waiting two to four hours, sometimes longer.

“I have to apologise to most of my patients because we have taken so long. Thankfully it hasn’t really happened to me but I know of crews who have turned up to patients who have died after waiting so long.”

Thomas Roberts says ambulance service staff are 'burning out' (Humphrey Nemar/ dailty mirror)

Crunch meeting with doctors will happen tomorrow after being cancelled so Barclay could appear on TV

Doctors' leaders are to meet with the Health Secretary on Thursday after an initial meeting to discuss concerns over pay was postponed so the minister could give media interviews.

Steve Barclay said he was due to speak to unions on Wednesday to discuss industrial relations, but the British Medical Association (BMA) said the Health Secretary had cancelled the talks.

Addressing the current pay negotiations, Mr Barclay told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I met with the unions again on Monday, I'm meeting further with the doctors' unions later today.

"We want to work constructively with the trade unions in terms of this year's coming pay review body."

But the BMA tweeted: "We see that Steve Barclay has told BBC R4 Today programme he is meeting with doctors later today.

"Actually he cancelled the 9am meeting we agreed so he could do media, and a further meeting is not yet agreed. Hopefully it will be soon."

The BMA's chair of council, Professor Phil Banfield said that BMA representatives had rearranged commitments in order to meet with the minister.

"He cancelled the 9am meeting we had all rearranged our commitments [for] so he could do media and a further meeting is not yet agreed," he wrote on Twitter.

The union later confirmed the meeting had been rescheduled to Thursday morning.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is under pressure to resolve the dispute (PA)

'Government must speak to unions about pay for THIS financial year'

Unison's general secretary has met with striking ambulance workers in Sheffield - and called on the government to fix the dispute once and for all.

Unions and Whitehall aare locked in a bitter dispute over pay and patient safety, with staff sharing harrowing experiences about life on the frontline.

Christina McAnea posted on Twitter that the government must address pay in the current financial year:

She wrote: "The government knows, that to resolve it, they must speak to us about pay for 2022/23."

At Longley Ambulance station in Sheffield speaking to striking members about our dispute.

The government knows, that to resolve it, they must speak to us about pay for 2022/23.

#ambulancestrike pic.twitter.com/3cg2upzFP0

— Christina McAnea (@cmcanea) January 11, 2023

Tory health committee boss lashes out at union boycott

The chairman of Parliament's health and social care committee has called on a "swifter" conclusion of next year's pay review.

Steve Brine, a former Conservative health minister said he thought it a "huge strategic error" on the part of health unions not to engage with the process.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World At One, Mr Brine said: "We are less than three months away from the end of the current pay review process.

"That process doesn't actually report, according to schedule, until September and then it is backdated to April 1.

"My view is that the pay review report that came out last year - it was 188 pages long, it was a comprehensive piece of work - I don't think they need to take until September.

"I think they need to do a much swifter piece of work, taking into account the cost-of-living challenges and I think that can give great hope to the unions."

Thousands of ambulance staff are taking part in industrial action today (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

'Too early' to say what effect strikes will have

Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers' interim chief executive, said it was "too early" to determine what impact the ambulance strikes would have on healthcare services but that she expected pressure to "mount" during the day.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World At One programme, Ms Cordery said: "It is still emerging about the picture of what is going on.

"Of course there will be disruption today but once again we have seen on the ambulance strike day reduced demand for ambulance services.

"I think that it is fair to say that as the day goes on, the pressures will mount. That's what we saw last time round with the industrial action.

"We know that there will be disruption but the scale of it is hard to see at the moment."

Ms Cordery said the NHS was able to "step forward and manage" through industrial action, but that it was having a "knock-on effect" on "waiting lists (and) treating people that need it in a timely fashion".

Thousands of ambulance service staff are taking part in a historic strike today (Humphrey Nemar/ dailty mirror)

Starmer makes '13 years of failure' jibe at PM

Keir Starmer has told Rishi Sunak he cannot legislate his way out of "13 years of failure" as he criticised the new anti-strike bill.

At the first Prime Minister's Questions of the year, the Labour leader focused his line of attack on the NHS strikes and the current state of the National Health Service.

He told MPs: "When I clapped nurses, I meant it." And he insisted the PM's response to "the greatest crisis in the history of the NHS" is to threaten to "sack our nurses".

It comes as the Government introduced the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill to Parliament, which would set minimum service levels for health, fire, education, transport, nuclear decommissioning and border security services.

Mr Starmer said: "His Transport Secretary says it's not the solution. His Education Secretary hopes it won't apply in schools.

"His own assessments say it could increase the number of strikes. The simple truth is you can't legislate your way out of 13 years of failure. Between 2010 and 2019, before anyone had heard of Covid."

He went on: "The number of people stuck on the NHS waiting list doubled. Why do patients always wait longer under the Tories?"

Responding to Sir Keir, Mr Sunak said: "This is a simple proposition. No-one denies the unions' freedom to strike but it is also important to balance that with people's right to have access to life-saving healthcare."

Keir Starmer has accused the Tories of '13 years of failure' (Getty Images)

Paramedic describes 'disheartening' delays for critical calls

By Amy-Clare Martin

Paramedic Shyr-nai Thomas, 25, said the pressure on the health service was “constant”.

Speaking from the picket line, she told the Mirror: “It doesn’t stop. You don’t get a moment to breathe.”

Increasingly, colleagues will find themselves stuck in a queue at hospital unable to hand over patients.

Delays are now happening on “every single shift since the pandemic”, she said.

“It’s disheartening when you hear colleagues in control on the radio asking for help for a Category 1 calls that can’t be answered.”

Shyr-nai -Thomas has described how dispiriting her job can be (Humphrey Nemar/ dailty mirror)

'I'm here to make sure patients get the care they deserve'

By Amy-Clare Martin

Paramedic Stephen Phillips, 51, said he was on the picket line to make sure "patients get the care they deserve".

He said at the start of his 22-year career, it was almost "unheard of" for patients to wait hours for an ambulance to arrive.

"Patients sometimes tell us they spent 15 minutes on hold and sometimes get through to a control room outside of London," he told the Mirror.

"When an ambulance is dispatched we used to get there in ten minutes. Now it's 20 and sometimes people are waiting hours.

"In the old days that was unheard of. But now it's becoming accepted and it's not acceptable."

Stephen Phillips has spoken about his reasons for striking (Humphrey Nemar/ dailty mirror)

Union says meeting on Monday was not a negotiation

Unison's head of health Sara Gorton said the visit by union leaders to the Health Secretary on Monday was a "meeting", not a negotiation, and progress needs to be made.

She said the situation within the NHS seems to be "worsening day by day" and the "ball is in the Government's court" to fix it.

Speaking from a picket line outside London Ambulance Service (LAS) headquarters in central London, she said: "Monday was a meeting, it was not talks.

"If we are going to get a resolution to the current dispute and the wider staffing crisis across the NHS, then what's going to be needed is for the Government to commit to having those direct talks.

"In six months' time, it's going to be too late. What we need to be doing is talking as soon as we can to Government. We've been asking since August 2020 to work with us collectively to have direct talks, to put in the kind of package that's going to be needed to keep people in jobs they love in the NHS and start to reverse the situation ... that seem to be worsening day by day.

"So, the ball's in the Government's court. We'll see whether the progress that was made on Monday is going to be followed up with a commitment to sit down with us and, most importantly, to provide the funding to allow a deal to happen."

People dying on ambulances as staff try to make ends meet

Some more heartbreaking testimony from our colleagues in Manchester.

Paramedics are having to work huge amounts of overtime to make ends meet, and having to witness patients dying because of delays.

This is what one paramedic told the Manchester Evening News.

Alyson Royle, 48, has been a paramedic for 21 years. She tells me she works 100 hours of overtime each week to make ends meet. The strike is about pay as well as patient care for her. “People are dying on ambulances,” she tells me pic.twitter.com/tJz8lyud8Y

— John Scheerhout (@johnscheerhout) January 11, 2023

PM attacked for 'denying working people the opportunity to strike for fair pay'

The Government is "seeking to deny working people the opportunity to strike for fair pay", MPs have heard.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, raising the Westminster Accounts investigation by Sky News, said: "In particular those in relation to the Prime Minister's favourite potential successor (Boris Johnson) which showed over the course of four months, from four speeches, he raked in in excess of a million pounds.

"Does the Prime Minister not find it utterly perverse that senior members of the Conservative Party are feathering their nest in this way whilst at the same time seeking to deny working people the opportunity to strike for fair pay?"

Rishi Sunak replied: "Focusing on their jobs, improving the NHS across the UK, in Scotland, indeed as in everywhere else.

"That's the kind of thing I want to talk to the Scottish Government about and I hope that he'll work with me to do that."

Sunak and Barclay urged to 'come and see what it's like'

By Hollie Bone in Liverpool

Striking ambulance workers have invited Rishi Sunak and Steve Barclay to “come and see what it is like” on the frontlines of the emergency service.

Patient Transport Service staff on the picket line outside Fazakerley Ambulance Station in Liverpool, Merseyside, said they are choosing between heating and eating in the Cost of Living Crisis.

Lisa Howard, 50, said: “People are waiting hours to go home, appointments are getting cancelled, they’re not happy. We explain that we have a backlog of people and they don’t blame us.

“It was the Cost of Living Crisis that made us go on strike. The last time we got a rise it was a three per cent rise over three years. One percent each year? What is that going to do?

“It’s absolutely ridiculous. Morale is in the boots, it’s very low. The whole NHS is in dire straits and the government don’t seem to want to back it up, they want to put it in the ground.”

Her colleague, Bernie Fletcher, 61, said: “The electricity and gas has gone up three times and we are still on the same wage, we’re making those decisions between heating and eating.

“The government hasn't invested in the NHS for years, it's like they want it to go down the drain.

Speaking directly to the government she said: “Come and see, don't sit in your office telling everyone you can’t afford it, come unannounced when it's not all set up to look nice and see what it's really like.

"The fact Rishi Sunak won't even say whether he has a private GP tells you everything.”

Lisa Howard (left) and Bernie Fletcher (right) outside the Fazakerley Ambulance Station, in Liverpool (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

'The NHS is broken and they've been papering over cracks for years'

Ambulance workers in Chorley, Lancashire, have shared their anger at the way they've been treated.

Andy Hargreaves, an apprentice EMT, told Lancashire Live: "It’s not in our nature to do this, to strike, but the NHS is broken and they’ve just been papering over the cracks for years."

Andy Hargreaves, one of the many ambulance staff and paramedics take part in a second round of strike action near Chorley Ambulance Station (James Maloney/Lancs Live)

'Many more' will join picket lines at end of shifts

The first handful of ambulance workers on a picket line in central London will be joined by “many more” once others finish their shift, a paramedic said.

At least six members of the Unison union lined up outside the London Ambulance Service’s headquarters in Waterloo on Wednesday.

They were greeted by passing cars beeping as a show of support and dozens of press.

Marcus Davis, a paramedic, told the PA news agency that public support for the strikes had been “excellent”.

People have dropped off biscuits, coffee and even money at the picket line, he said.

Many more ambulance workers will arrive as they finish their shifts, he added, as members will continue working intermittently to keep the service going despite the walkouts.

Thousands of ambulance service staff are taking part in industrial action today (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Sunak attacked over handling of NHS crisis

Rishi Sunak has come under attack over his handling of the crisis at a frought PMQs - claiming minimum service laws during strikes "shouldn't be controversial".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "When I clapped nurses I meant it. His response to the greatest crisis in the history of the NHS is to threaten to sack our nurses.

"His Transport Secretary says it's not the solution. His Education Secretary hopes it won't apply in schools.

"His own assessments say it could increase the number of strikes. The simple truth is you can't legislate your way out of 13 years of failure. Between 2010 and 2019, before anyone had heard of Covid..."

Mr Sunak said: "This is a simple proposition. No-one denies the unions freedom to strike but it is also important to balance that with people's right to have access to life-saving healthcare."

"This shouldn't be controversial, the International Labour Organisation supports minimum service levels," he said, noting they are present in a number of European countries, saying "normally he's in favour of more European alignment".

Keir Starmer lashed out at the Prime Minister over his handling of the crisis (Sky News)

'I've had to apologise to families whose loved ones died due to delays'

By Hollie Bone in Liverpool

A striking paramedic has been forced to apologise to the families of three people who died waiting for her to arrive in the last six months alone.

Angharad Williams, 31, a paramedic based in Bootle, Liverpool, said: “There have been several occasions where I’ve been out there and seen families whose loved ones have died waiting for an ambulance.

“It's happened to me maybe three times in the last six months, so it's really difficult to then have to apologise to people's families because someone has died unnecessarily waiting due to delays.

“It’s the same when you go out to an elderly person who has fallen. They can wait up to 20 hours sometimes for an ambulance, lying on the floor in the cold and they deteriorate while they wait.

“It definitely takes a toll, I think we brush it off quite often but when you think about what we see on a day to day basis it can be quite difficult.

Speaking about the government’s attitude towards the NHS, she said: “I think it’s been 12 years of deliberate underfunding to make it fail and move forward with privatisation."

Student paramedic, Deeq Mohamood, 40, says he's dropped people off at hospital and found them waiting for a bed in the same hospital two days later.

He said: "The frustrating bit for us is when we get to hospital queuing for hours and hours standing on corridors and then when we get out to patients we are apologising to them for the wait."

Deeq Mohamood (left) and Angharard Williams (right) outside the Old Swan Ambulance Station, in Liverpool (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Rishi Sunak confirms he has used private healthcare in the past

Rishi Sunak has finally admitted he has used private healthcare following weeks of speculation about whether he relied on NHS services.

The Prime Minister said he was registered with an NHS GP but told MPs he had used "independent" healthcare in the past.

He has previously refused to answer questions about whether he had private healthcare, insisting it was "not really relevant".

At Prime Minister's Questions Mr Sunak said: "I am registered with an NHS GP.

"I have used independent healthcare in the past and I'm also grateful to the Friarage Hospital for the fantastic care they have given my family over the years."

Rishi Sunak has finally confirmed that he's used private healthcare (Sky News)

Six ambulances helped wounded in M6 crash last night

Just hours before today's strikes got underway, six ambulances and four paramedic officers were rushed to the scene of a coach crash on the M6, in which several were seriously injured.

The driver of the coach had to be cut free while the paramedic teams helped the injured.

Eventually 12 people were rushed to hospitals.

Read more here

(SWNS)

Soldier at the wheel as thousands of paramedics stage historic strike

Troops are today providing emergency cover by driving ambulances as thousands of workers stage a historic walkout.

The military was drafted in during today's strike action, and soldiers were today pictured at the wheel outside Wellington Barracks in Westminster.

(Ben Cawthra/LNP)

Junior doctors could also be set to walk out

Abound 45,000 members of the British Medical Association were balloted on the prospect of strike action on Monday, with the result due at the end of February.

The BMA has told the Government if there is a yes vote, junior doctors will begin their action with a 72-hour "full walkout" in March.

Junior doctors will not provide emergency care during any strike, the BMA has said, adding trusts will need to arrange emergency cover to ensure patient safety.

Ambulance workers on the picket line outside London Ambulance Service NHS Trust control room in Waterloo (PA)