Labour vows war on ‘hostile’ health unions

Labour will take on “hostile” health unions holding back the NHS, the shadow health secretary has said.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Wes Streeting warned that the NHS was “a service, not a shrine” and needed to “reform or die”.

Mr Streeting – who revealed that he has been waiting for months for delayed scans after cancer treatment – said the health service faced an “existential crisis”, with “appalling” difficulties accessing care.

He said the public had sacrificed “a lot of their lives and liberty” to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed during repeated lockdowns, only to see it now “collapsed” around them.

His stance strikes a new tone for Labour, which relies heavily on union support and has accepted more than £15 million from unions involved in this winter’s strikes since Sir Keir Starmer became leader.

As the NHS braces for a wave of industrial action by nurses and paramedics, the shadow minister urged all unions to put patients first.

Mr Streeting said a Labour government could not afford the pay rises nurses are seeking, but criticised ministers for failing to negotiate on pay or get round the table when strikes were mooted.

The MP for Ilford North said that if Labour won the election he would not hesitate to take on unions holding back the cause of patients, singling out the British Medical Association (BMA) for being “hostile” to the idea that patients should expect better standards.

“One of the things that I do find frustrating, given that we have committed to more staff, I cannot understand why the BMA is so hostile to the idea that with more staff must come better standards for patients,” he said, accusing the union of “living on a different planet”.

“Whenever I point out the appalling state of access to primary care, where [a] record two million people are waiting more than a month to see a GP, I am treated like some sort of heretic by the BMA – who seem to think any criticism of patient access to primary care is somehow an attack on GPs,” he added.

“If anyone in the NHS thinks that they can demand more investment without demonstrating better standards for patients, they’ve got another think coming. We are not going to have a ‘something for nothing’ culture in the NHS with Labour.”

Mr Streeting said he was horrified when a conference of GPs recently voted to cut surgery core hours to nine to five.

“I think the BMA does doctors no favours when they vote for motions that look like they’re living on a different planet and, worst of all, [aren’t] thinking about the best interests of patients,” he said.

The motion at the England local medical committees conference last month was passed, with the BMA’s most senior GP telling colleagues to “restrict your working” and promising to “see what we can negotiate” following the vote.

“I’m not frightened to take on vested interests, and I’m not afraid to tell the BMA or other unions ‘no’ – and I think people respect that honesty,” said Mr Streeting, adding that he would take on those in his party who are blocking NHS reform.

“I think there’s always a danger in the Labour Party that, because we created the NHS, we’ve been reluctant to criticise the performance... we can’t afford to be romantic and misty-eyed about the health service. This is a service, not a shrine,” he said.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman responded on Saturday night: “We recognise the extraordinary work of NHS staff. That’s why in these difficult economic times we are prioritising health and care services with up to £14.1 billion over the next two years, on top of record funding to address the most pressing issues facing the NHS this winter as a result of the pandemic including improving urgent and emergency care.

“We’re continuing to tackle waiting times and improve access for patients by allocating an extra £500 million to speed up hospital discharge, getting ambulances back on the road more quickly, increasing the number of NHS call handlers, and creating the equivalent of at least 7,000 more beds,” the spokesman said.

In a speech to the Institute of Public Policy Research last week, Mr Streeting said Labour would have gone further than Tories have in using private hospital beds for NHS patients, with “hundreds of thousands” more taken off record waiting lists.

He accused ministers of “reckless behaviour” and “spoiling for a fight” by refusing to enter pay negotiations with health unions. He said Labour could not afford to meet the demands being made by nurses, but would be prepared to discuss pay increases.

“Where I do think the Government have fallen recklessly, dangerously short of public expectations is failing to negotiate at all,” he added, suggesting a Labour government would “prioritise” the lowest-paid workers.

On Thursday, up to 100,000 nurses will take part in the first national strike by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) over demands for a 19 per cent pay rise. Paramedics are due to follow in the days before Christmas.

Up to 15,000 operations are set to be cancelled next week alone, while more than 100,000 outpatients appointments may be affected. Meanwhile, train strikes will bring much of the country to a halt, with action planned on four days this week.

On Saturday, Pat Cullen, the RCN general secretary, accused Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, of “bully-boy tactics”, saying Mr Barclay was unwilling to negotiate with her because she is a woman representing a largely female workforce.

She later said the RCN would suspend a wave of planned strikes if ministers agreed to open serious discussions over pay, telling The Observer: “Negotiate with nurses and avoid this strike. Five times my offer to negotiate has been turned down. I will press pause on it when the Health Secretary says he will negotiate seriously on our dispute this year.”

Dr Emma Runswick, the deputy chairman of council at the BMA, said: “[The] whole NHS is in crisis, and this results not only in poor provision for patients but also incredibly difficult conditions for those of us delivering this care.

“The anger for that crisis should be directed squarely at the Government and their failure to invest, not at those who work in the NHS or the unions who represent them.

“It’s incredibly disappointing that Mr Streeting has chosen to attack us in this way.”