{"id":6834,"date":"2015-11-18T16:38:40","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T16:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=6834"},"modified":"2015-11-18T16:40:22","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T16:40:22","slug":"saluting-our-community-nurses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=6834","title":{"rendered":"Saluting our community nurses"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey spoke at the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA) conference this morning (November 18).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In his address, he hailed members who he noted were \u00e2\u20ac\u015bon the frontline of nursing care in our communities\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and who are \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcommitted to defending our National Health Service.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe last time I addressed this conference, the Health and Social Care Act had just become law,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe impact has been all too real for the services you deliver; and most importantly the people and communities that rely on them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSince 2010, the top-down changes and re-organisations that have taken place across all of our publicly funded health services, have sought to dramatically alter the vision and the values that were the founding principles of the NHS.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our voice, our direction<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou will have heard this 100 times; it must never be forgotten,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen Bevan said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, he meant it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Unite is so proud to represent you and over 100,000 health professionals across our union \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and you can be confident that with me as your general secretary, this union will never let up on that fight.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He thanked the members for their work and promised that it is the members working in healthcare themselves who will determine what the union does, bound together, in defiance of the government and in defence of the services that they are \u00e2\u20ac\u015brightly so proud to deliver.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey praised the theme of the conference \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur Voice \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Our Direction: Implementation, integration and inspiration\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBecause,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bit was the voices, the direction and the determination of a group of pioneering women 150 years ago that formed the Manchester and Salford Ladies Sanitary Reform Society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTheir aim was to support working class women and families living in poverty, to educate and support them to ensure better standards of health, sanitation and child care. These brave, forward thinking women were the precursors to modern public health and health visiting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThose early health visitors and public health campaigners were amongst the first to envisage how, working collectively, they could eradicate the evils caused by poverty and deprivation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey noted that it would be another hundred years before the state took similar action and Beveridge would famously coin his own five “Giant Evils” in society \u00e2\u20ac\u201d squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd therein lies the lesson for us all,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have never, and must never, allow government to dictate the terms when it comes to public health and our National Health Service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Radical roots<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe pioneers of the organisation you are here representing today were never meek or mild.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey were radicals. Whether it was on health and safety at work or women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suffrage, public health care or public housing, they saw it as their duty to speak out on behalf of the disenfranchised.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey reminded the conference that the CPHVA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roots go back to 1861. They were an entirely women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s union and the first health union to affiliate to the TUC.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat a fantastic history that is,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo this day their legacy is the emblematic colours green, white and violet, representing their allegiance to the women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suffrage movement \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Give Women the Vote.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd if we brought these visionary women into our working class communities today what would they see?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGrowing health and income inequality made worse by cuts to the vulnerable, the disabled and even the working poor. The fragmentation and selling off of our NHS in England. They would see their modern day Community Practitioners referring families to burgeoning food banks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey would see your ever growing workloads fearful that important safeguarding standards may not be met.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And going into people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s homes with you, they would see the re-emergence of diseases of the past, like rickets,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbut also a disease of the present day \u00e2\u20ac\u201d obesity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Deeds not words<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

McCluskey highlighted a central tenet integral to the suffrage movement \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdeeds not words\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen women decided that if they were to be deprived of their human right to be law makers, then they would be law breakers in their quest to win the vote for women,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was this that began their movement of civil disobedience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI know that you take pride in that history and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re facing a government that would happily return us to those Edwardian times.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey gave the example of chancellor George Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tax credit cuts, which he called a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfiasco.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEven when this chancellor is sitting on a surplus (derived only from historically low interest rates) he remains committed to cuts to in-work benefits that will leave the poorest thousands of pounds worse off in each and every year,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey called the National Health Service the \u00e2\u20ac\u015benvy of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and lauded the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhighly developed professional public health workforce which has been responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of mothers and their children for generations.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your professional knowledge and experience that should be driving improvements in our NHS and public health \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it should never be left to the whims of ministers or the forces of the market,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he argued.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInstead, piece by piece we are seeing our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health service sold off.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey said that in the long-term this will mean \u00e2\u20ac\u015bprofit taking precedence over care; fragmentation when what we need is cooperation; and, when pressure mounts: attacks on staff terms and conditions whilst profits are creamed off the top.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Public health<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The general secretary then turned to public health, which he said \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshould be the preventative arm of the NHS, but instead it is being farmed off to local government, cutting it loose from wider health services and taking away any political accountability.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn Whitehall, the secretary of state won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take responsibility and locally councils are left to take the blame; when they themselves are left powerless in the face of swinging cuts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re left with is a postcode lottery, a lottery with few winners but all too many tragic losers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know that protecting patients and protecting staff are two sides of the same coin,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we are to invest in the next generation’s health, every child and young adult needs access to a school nurse, equipped to look after their health.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd if we are to truly protect the public, we need high standards in statutory regulation for the likes of community nursery nurses.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd let me be clear about one thing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAusterity economics is a bankrupt philosophy. It is always the problem; never the solution.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou cannot cut your way to a strong and vibrant economy. We know what we need is strategic planning, government investment and support for our key industries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bJust like you cannot cut your way to a reliable and responsive National Health Service,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe only model that has ever worked is one that is publicly-funded and publicly-provided, with well-funded local services offering crucial support.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be clear \u00e2\u20ac\u201d only significant public investment will solve the ongoing challenges in health and social care for the future.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Politics of hope<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

McCluskey went on to argue that the election of the new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn offers hope to the NHS because of his rejection of the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpolitics of managerialism\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He pointed out that it was this very same managerial approach which cased the re-organisation of the NHS and brought the private sector \u00e2\u20ac\u015binto the heart of our greatest national asset\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey closed his speech by highlighting the importance of strong trade unions, and why the trade union Bill poses such a grave threat to working people and the public services they proudly seek to protect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnly last year the Royal College of Midwives for the first time in their long history took strike action to get the 1 per cent pay rise recommended by the Pay Review Body,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis year the RCM joined the TUC and let me say they are really very welcome.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe industrial action by NHS unions forced government around the table and the 1% was finally agreed. Far from perfect but government moved their position for NHS staff in England.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut they are not done yet \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Agenda for Change is under review and we all know what that means, doing more for less,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added. On top of this is four more years of pay cuts \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that is what the 1 per\u00c2\u00a0cent\u00c2\u00a0pay \u00e2\u20ac\u0098envelope\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 represents.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow more than ever health professionals need a trade union,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow more than ever health professionals need a trade union that fights for secure work, a strong voice and decent pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow more than ever we need to hold true to your roots \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0098deeds not words\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in defence of your standard of living and just as importantly in defence of our NHS.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHave faith in your beliefs and a just society will prevail.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read more about the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA) here<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey spoke at the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA) conference this morning (November 18).   In his address, he hailed members who he noted were \u00e2\u20ac\u015bon the frontline of nursing care in our communities\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and who are \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcommitted to defending our National Health Service.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe last time I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[443,77,29],"wps_subtitle":"Unite GS address CPHVA ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6835,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions\/6835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}