An easy way to contact your local politicians.

We have produced a put online a draft letter for you too use/adapt while writing to local politicians, which can be downloaded. Below you will find the same text and a link to send it to your local politicians MSPs, MPs and Councillors simply by imputing your postcode. Simples! Copy and paste the letter below and then visit this page .

Suggested letter

Dear

NHS LANARKSHIRE: HAIRMYRES AND WISHAW PFI CONTRACTS

I am writing as a constituent who has grave concerns surrounding the proposals of NHS Lanarkshire to extend the Soft Facilities Management (cleaning, portering, catering, and security) contracts with private contractors Serco at Wishaw General and ISS at Hairmyres Hospital.The NHS Lanarkshire Board requires to make this decision by the end of 2014.

It is my understanding that the Board intends to simply roll on the contracts with the existing Private providers, thereby continuing to pay taxpayers money to the shareholders of SERCO and ISS, for the provision of public services. UNISON and the other Health Unions and Professional Associations are campaigning to have the services brought back in house, and I as a constituent and service user support this view and would request your support to lobby the Board on this issue.

I firmly believe that staff employed in Wishaw General and Hairmyres should be employed by the NHS and not private companies who are in the NHS to bleed money from it. There is a real opportunity for NHS Lanarkshire to bring back in-house these services and ensure quality and public control of public money.

I look forward to hearing your view of this vitally important issue.

Yours sincerely

We would like to thank those friends and supporters who have already acted on this request. Please share widely and encourage others to do likewise remember PFIs bleed the NHS dry!

Happy Birthday NHS - 66 today!

UNISON Lanarkshire health Branch wishing our National Health Service a happy 66th birthday today.

NMC increase in fees

Background

Despite already increasing the registration fees for nurses and midwives in 2012 from £76 to £100 the NMC have announced that they want to further increase fees by 20% to £120 in 2015.

UNISON is opposed to the increase and is campaigning against it. Over 100,000 people have already signed the online petition

 https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60164

UNISON Lanarkshire Health Branch is calling on all nurse and midwife members to write to the MP and ask for their support in our campaign to oppose the increase.

The Campaign

It’s quite simple. over the next few months UNISON will be out and about in every workplace encouraging nurse members to sign up to our campaign.

We will have packs of standard letters for you and your colleagues to sign, if you are a UNISON member we will post them on to your MP for you.

Alternatively you can use the template letter (cut and paste) below and the following web link to write or email, to your MP direct at the House of Commons.

At this stage we are not targeting MSP's because the issue of NMC Registration and Fees is still reserved to the UK Government.

In addition Branch Secretary Mary Samson is writing to every MP in the Lanarkshire area asking them for their support. Who knows one or two might even agree to meet with UNISON members to hear their views - if they do we will keep members on our email list posted.

Not on our email list? You can make sure you are kept up to date with all of the big issues affecting UNISON members simply email us at

unisonlanhealth@hotmail.co.uk

with your name, address and email and we will amend your records to make sure that you are included in our regular email communications to members.

You Can Find Your MP here...

Before you start you will want to find out who your MP is. You can use your postcode to find the name of your MP here..

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

Template Letter

<<insert your name>> 

<<Address>> 

<<Postcode>> 

<<Your MP's name >>

House of Commons,

London SW1A 0AA 

<<insert date>>

Dear  MP

I am seeking your support as a local constituent and one of 670,000 nurses and midwives working in the UK in our fight to scrap further NMC fee increases.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator for nurses and midwives on the UK. It is illegal to work as a nurse or midwife without being on the NMC register. In order to be on the register, all nurses and midwives must pay an annual registration fee. The NMC maintains this register in order to 'protect the public'.

The NMC has again proposed an increase in registrations fees, this latest increase will see fees rise from £100 to £120 per annum, a 20% hike. The last increase was in 2012 following a consultation in which nurse and midwives were overwhelmingly against the rise from £76 to £100, a 32% rise, a total increase of 52% in two years. At this time the NMC was bailed out to the tune of £20million by the Government only two years later they state that without a fee increase the NMC will end the financial year with a £7.3 million deficit. This report was tabled at the January council meeting of the NMC. Over 670,000 nurses and midwives pay the annual fee currently totally £67 million. 77% of registrants fees are spent on 'fitness to practice'.

Health Christina McAnea, UNISON Head of Health has said that

“it beggars belief that the NMC should even consider asking nursing staff to pay such a massive increase in fees.  The family budgets of many nurses and midwives are under severe pressure and one more bill to pay can all too easily tip them over the edge, especially as it comes on the back of the recent pay announcement. Public protection is everyone's business and the full financial burden shouldn't fall to registrants alone.”

I write today to ask for your help and support, to ask questions of the NMC and their financial mismanagement.

Kind regards

Finally

Contacting your MP is just the start of the campaign, if your MP is in touch with you, let us know what she/he says - send a copy of their letter or email to UNISON at the contact details at the side of this website.

You could even write to your local newspaper or to the NMC direct

Monklands Hospital Visits

In 2013 we'll be out with an information stall at Monklands Hospital , at the Choices restaraunt, from 9.30 to 3.30 on the 2nd Tuesday of every month .

So come along and see what UNISON has to offer  and make the most of your membership - it's not just about representation at work !

We have deals and links with many partner organisations offering everything from discounted car and house insurance to a free will !

PVG PAYMENTS SUCCESS

Below we re-produce the text of a letter received by UNISON's Scottish Health Committee regarding PVG payments. We are please that the new Scottish Health Minister, Alex Neil has listened to the concerns that UNISON and others organisations have had around the financial impact of passing on PVG payments to already hard pressed NHS staff and came to a sensible conclusion.

Mr Tom Waterson and

Mr Willie Duffy

Chair and Secretary of

Uhison Scotland Health Committee

Unison House

14 West Campbell Street

Glasgow

G2 6RX

Your ref: SHC/JG/WD/WK

Our ref: 2012/0036638

December 2012

The Scottish

Government

 

Thank you for your letter of 5 November about payment of the fee for membership of the

new Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme.

I am aware that the issue of whether staff or employers will be responsible for payment of

this fee has been a particularly difficult one for STAC to resolve and that my predecessor,

Nicola Sturgeon, was approached for a view on the matter at the end of 2011. She

acknowledged that registration belongs to the individual and is transferrable and can

therefore be seen as analogous to a professional registration fee, for which a staff member

· would be liable themselves. However, she was also conscious of the need to protect the

lower paid and asked STAC to progress discussions on the basis that only those earning

over £21 ,000 would pay their own registration fee.

This led to further discussions but, unfortunately, no agreement has been reached. There is

no doubt that PVG registration is a transferrable benefit which can be used to facilitate

· employment with a different NHS employer, a local councilor a private service provider.

However, I acknowledge that the situation has moved on since 2011 and have listened

carefully to the points being made around this issue. I am particularly conscious of the

significant ongoing pressures hard working NHSScotland staff face on their take home pay

and have therefore written today to the Joint Chairs of STAC asking the Committee to

· discuss an approach which would see employers cover PVG registration fees for all staff.

I hope this is helpful in clarifying the position.

Alex Neil

THE SWINNEY TAX

John Swinney (SNP Finance Secretary) told the Scottish Parliament last week that the UK Government had confirmed its intention to increase public sector worker pension contributions in the coming year, as part of a move to increase contributions by an average of 3.2% per cent of pensionable pay by 2014-15.

The Scottish Government could choose not to impose the increases however it did impose them in 2012/13 and it is planning to do so again in 2013/14 and 2014/15. The additional contributions do not go towards pensions, they are simply a tax on public sector workers.

Dave Watson, UNISON Scotland Organiser said: “We agree that these pension changes are being driven by Westminster, but Scottish Government ministers could do something different on this if they wanted to – and they have decided not to.”

A special meeting of UNISON Scotland’s Health Committee will take place within the next two weeks to discuss further industrial action.

Updating the Scottish Council on the NHS pensions dispute in Scotland, Tom Waterson told delegates that it is now clear that it is the Scottish Government that is choosing to impose the pensions tax on health workers in Scotland.  Tom described the Scottish Government pensions tax as ‘The Swinney Tax’.

MORE THAN 70% OF HEALTHCARE ASSISTANTS FACE VIOLENCE AT WORK – UNISON SURVEY

More than 70% of healthcare assistants have been the victim of aggression and violence at work, a new survey from UNISON has revealed.

The survey of nearly 1200 healthcare assistants and assistant practitioners revealed that 13% of those who had been the victim of violence at work had been threatened with a weapon, while nearly a fifth had been the victim of an assault that required medical assistance or first aid.

The survey paints a shocking picture of the reality of work for healthcare assistants and assistant practitioners in today’s NHS, with more than 40% of respondents saying that they had considered leaving their profession either fairly or very seriously over the last year.

The results shine a harsh light on the problems facing the NHS as a result of government cuts, with more than 85% saying they felt staffing levels had become insufficient over the last year. Only 11% believed that staffing levels were adequate in their clinical area.

Commenting on the survey, Christina McAnea, UNISON head of health said:

“This survey illustrates the sometimes grim reality for healthcare assistants and assistant practitioners, whose already challenging job is made harder by inadequate staffing and the threat of aggression and violence.

“HCAs and APs provide a fundamental care to some of the most vulnerable patients, yet what we are seeing is that they do not feel valued by their employers, and even less so by the government, whose cuts agenda is placing them, and professionals across the health service, under enormous pressure.

“When four in ten HCAs are considering leaving the profession, something is very wrong. This survey is demonstrating the real impact of government cuts – demoralised staff who are trying to deliver the best possible care they can in ever more difficult circumstances.

“It is time for the government to think again about the damage that its demand for £20bn in so called ‘efficiency savings’ is having on the NHS.  Cuts aren’t working, and if these vital professionals are depleted even more, the impact on patient care will be enormous.”

Healthcare assistants and assistant practitioners play a vital role in healthcare delivery, yet only 2.1% said they felt the government respected their role, a stark contrast to the almost 80% who said that patients valued their work.

More than 80% of those who responded said they believed that HCAs should be regulated in the same way as other healthcare professionals such as nurses, to protect patients, ensure high standards and maintain skills.

The survey coincides with UNISON’s annual Healthcare Assistant Seminar in Glasgow, which will look at the current debates and hot issues affecting Healthcare Assistants in today’s healthcare environment, including regulation, role design and best practice.