The decision on whether to give NHS staff in England a proper pay rise falls to one man: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
He has made it one of his personal pledges to cut NHS waiting lists and deliver quicker care.
But currently in England there are a record 7 million people waiting for treatment. Ambulance response times are the worst on record, with patients waiting over an hour and a half for an ambulance after reporting a stroke, severe burns, or chest pain. All of this is on Rishi Sunak’s watch.
NHS staff have felt they have had no choice but to take strike action, in an effort to end this deepening crisis. Nurses, porters, cleaners, blood collection workers and many more UNISON members across our NHS are striking not just for a pay rise to cope with the spiralling cost of living, but for the future of the NHS and its patients. Decent pay is essential to prevent more staff leaving the NHS and further damage to patient care.
Help us end the crisis in our NHS. Write to your MP using our tool here, set out our plan to open negotiations, end the strikes in England and fix the NHS. Ask them to write to the Prime Minister, calling on him to act.
