Theresa May faces angry NHS workers during radio phone-in

Theresa May was put on the spot by a doctor considering resigning over understaffing in the NHS and low morale caused by the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, as she took questions from members of the public on an LBC radio phone-in.

The prime minister was told by Romeena from Leeds that healthcare professionals were finding it “near impossible” to provide safe care for their patients. The paediatrician said she was considering resignation after 12 years “because things have got so bad on the shop floor” and questioned why Hunt was still in his job following the doctors’ strikes.

“I’ve witnessed organ transplants being cancelled because there haven’t been enough nurses to provide post-operative care,” the doctor said. “Whatever the government is doing, it is clearly not enough – and you have reappointed as health secretary somebody who has demoralised the whole workforce.

“It seems like you stand up and support somebody who allowed junior doctors to go on strike, who seems to be allowing nurses to go on strike and that doesn’t fall in line with what the frontline of the NHS want to see.”

May dodged a question about whether she knew how unpopular Hunt was and maintained he had sorted out the row with junior doctors over their pay and conditions satisfactorily.

“What I would say is Jeremy Hunt has done a very good job in saying to everyone what we need to focus on is the quality of care,” she said, adding that she had experienced care as a type 1 diabetic.

The prime minister claimed the Conservatives had responded to a request from the NHS for £10bn by 2010 in real terms, although this figure is disputed, and that more money would be going to A&E departments because more people are going to be treated there.

May was hit with tough questions from members of the public over the state of public services, her record on failing to meet the Conservative target on immigration, low morale in the armed forces and insufficient help with childcare.

A listener called Sophia, who also worked in the NHS, said she was thinking of voting Labour because she was not yet convinced that May was helping the “just-about-managing” people with childcare costs of around £700 a month.

“I think it’s great you’ve increased it to 30 hours for three- and four-year-olds but there is a great gap there for two-year-olds,” the listener said.

May cited cutting the personal allowance and free hours of childcare for three and four years, but acknowledged there was “more work to do” when it came to helping just managing families with their costs.

Nick Ferrari, the LBC interviewer, interjected many times with follow-up questions, pressing the prime minister particularly on whether she would be raising taxes, as the party looks set to abandon its promise not to raise VAT, income tax or national insurance for the next five years.

She declined at least three times to say she would make that promise for the full parliament, saying: “We are a party that believes in actually trying to ensure we have low taxes … we have no plans to increase the level of tax but what I’m saying is that’s because we are party that believes in a low tax … as a government, we would go into government with no plans to raise the level of tax.”

May was confronted with remarks made earlier on Thursday by her predecessor, David Cameron, who said May needed to win a strong majority in the election so she could stand up to people in the UK and Europe who wanted an “extreme Brexit”. She said Cameron had been right about the need for the election but the reason for that was the requirement for “the security, the stability for five years of greater certainty that can take us through Brexit and beyond”.

The half-hour programme contained personal revelations from May, as she talked about being “very said” not to have had children with her husband Philip. “Of course, we are not the only couple that finds ourselves in that situation and when you do I suppose you just get on with life,” she said.

Asked if she would have been able to devote so much of herself to work if she had children, May replied: “I look at some of my parliamentary colleagues and people who have been in the cabinet who had children and yes, they do apply themselves, they are just very well organised. I think that is the key thing.”

And amid reported tensions with Philip Hammond, her chancellor, the prime minister raised some eyebrows by claiming that the most important Philip in Downing Street was the one who shared her flat in No 10 rather than the political occupant of No 11.

The prime minister did not shy away from talking about her faith in the interview; she said her Christianity helped her through the death of her father and mother when she was in her 20s.

She also discussed her love of cooking, saying she has more than 100 cookery books and would make Donald Trump a slow roast shoulder of lamb if the US president came to dinner.

Theresa May faces angry NHS workers during radio phone-in

Public service workers: tell us what you want in party manifestos

In the run-up to June’s general election, almost every aspect of our public services and social policy feels at breaking point: we’re in the midst of an NHS crisis, a social care crisis, a housing crisis, a local government funding crisis and a civil service staffing crisis, not to mention a collapse in public trust for charities.

The election will be dominated by Brexit, but domestic policies are equally vital – and must not be swept under the rug. It will be up to all those professionals working for and with the public to make that case. So we’d like to know what you want to see in the party manifestoes as top election priorities.

This is not just a matter of grand statements or pledging more money. What do the main political parties need to say that shows they really understand the issues?

Share your thoughts

Whether you work in healthcare, social care, housing, local government, central government, or any other part of public service – including the private sector or the voluntary sector – we want to hear from you. Tell us what you think are the biggest problems in your sector at the moment and what each of the political parties should be offering.

You can do so by filling in our encrypted form below – anonymously if you wish. We will do our best to ensure your responses are kept secure and confidential. A selection of contributions will be featured in our reporting.

Public service workers: tell us what you want in party manifestos

NHS workers in England to get "derisory" 1% pay rise

Health workers ranging from doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives to cleaners and porters are to receive a 1% pay rise, angering unions.

The government said it had accepted recommendations from Pay Review Bodies (PRB) for increases in the coming year.

Unions reacted with fury, saying the rise was “derisory”, especially as fuel, food and transport costs were increasing.

Christina McAnea, head of health at Unison, said: “This deal amounts to less than £5 a week for most midwives, nurses, cleaners, paramedics, radiographers and other healthcare staff. It’s a derisory amount in the face of soaring fuel bills, rising food prices and increasing transport costs.

“The government’s insistence on the 1% cap has tied the PRB’s hands. As the PRB itself admits, it can no longer prevent health employees’ pay falling way behind wages in almost every part of the economy.Without the cash to hold on to experienced employees, the NHS staffing crisis will worsen as people leave for less stressful, better rewarded jobs elsewhere.

“Today’s unfair settlement is yet more evidence of the government’s failure to invest in the NHS. Ministers must stop relying on goodwill, rethink this short-sighted pay policy and reward staff properly.”

Rehana Azam, of the GMB union, said: “Public sector workers desperately need a real pay rise, not the miserly and cruel decision being imposed on them by the government.

“Dedicated professionals are hurting and the quality of services is deteriorating for everyone else. Theresa May talks about helping those who are ‘just about managing’, but it’s clear that she doesn’t include over 5 million public sector workers. Imposing a 1% settlement is an insult to our selfless NHS staff and other public sector workers – who keep us safe day in, day out.”

Unison’s general secretary, Dave Prentis, said: “Day after day NHS staff are giving 100%, but getting just 1% in return. Low pay makes it tough for the NHS to hold on to experienced employees and recruit the next generation. And without enough staff, patient care will suffer. The pay of top judges and MPs has already breached the government’s 1% limit. It’s high time ministers stopped penalising NHS employees and gave them a decent pay rise.”

Jon Skewes, of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “It is extremely disappointing that the government is continuing with its disastrous policy of pay restraint for a seventh year. While we welcome that both the Scottish and Welsh governments will give a slightly higher award to lower paid staff, we want to see an inflationary increase given to all staff.

“As a result of below-inflation increases for the past seven years, midwives have seen their pay drop in value by over £6,000 since 2010. It is unsustainable for this to continue. There is currently a shortage of 3,500 midwives in the NHS, with many more midwives debating whether to leave midwifery because the pressures the service is currently under have created a situation in which midwives have never been so challenged in their ability to give high-quality, safe care to women and their families.

“Eighty percent of midwives who were intending to leave or have left the service told us they would be persuaded to stay if their pay was higher.”

Janet Davies, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the announcement was a bitter blow to nursing staff across England.

“The government will deter new people from joining the nursing profession at the very moment it is failing to retain staff and European colleagues in particular head for the door. The government is still refusing to keep nursing wages in line with inflation. The government has already cut nursing pay by 14% in real terms, leaving too many struggling and turning to food banks and hardship grants.

“Many nurses rely on working extra hours for the NHS as agency staff but, from next week, they will be forced to work through a ‘bank’ and accept lower rates of pay than they get in their normal NHS job. Ministers are ignoring the evidence that staff shortages put patient care and safety at risk. Tens of thousands of nursing jobs lie vacant today and the government missed the opportunity to stop that getting worse.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “The dedication and sheer hard work of our NHS staff is absolutely crucial to delivering world-class care for patients. We are pleased to announce that all NHS staff will receive a 1% pay increase.”

Unite national officer Sarah Carpenter said: “What the PRB has proposed is woefully inadequate and means that the majority of NHS staff will have experienced a loss of income in real terms of about 17% since 2010.

“This won’t staunch the recruitment and retention crisis currently affecting many healthcare professions, which is exacerbated by the ugly Brexit shadow hanging over the future of the estimated 55,000 EU nationals working for the NHS. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt often speaks warm words in support of NHS staff, but the reality is that he has been quite content to see this serious erosion in NHS pay continue.”

NHS workers in England to get "derisory" 1% pay rise

Good social workers are invaluable. So let’s give them proper support | David Brindle

About three in every 10 people in Britain think social workers help with household chores like cooking and cleaning, with personal care like washing and dressing, and with childcare. Two in 10 reckon they will nip to the shops for you. Asked to choose from a given list of professionals they consider important providers of mental health support, 69% of people identify psychiatrists and 65% GPs – but only 41% pick social workers.

These findings come from a ComRes survey commissioned by Think Ahead, the fast-track training graduate scheme for mental health social workers, to mark this week’s World Social Work Day. As Lyn Romeo, England’s chief social worker for adults, comments with a certain understatement, “there is still more to do to communicate the crucial role of social workers”.

That was to have been the role of the short-lived College of Social Work, set up by ministers in 2010 with plans for it to grow to become a royal college on a par with those for the most esteemed professions, but shut down in chaos five years later. News that the College of Occupational Therapists is to become royal – richly deserved, by the way – has rubbed a good deal of salt into that wound.

There is a fresh plan, however. From 2018, part of the brief of a proposed new regulator for social workers in England will be “to promote and maintain public confidence” in the profession. The mandate for the organisation, provisionally titled Social Work England (SWE), is contained in the children and social work bill currently before parliament. After a rocky start, it enjoys broad support.

One reason SWE is being welcomed is that it will give social work its own regulator again after six years under the generic Health and Care Professions Council. A second is that ministers accept it cannot be self-financing, at least in the short term, and are underwriting it by £16m in its first two years. And the most significant reason is that an initial idea for it to be run direct by Whitehall has been ditched.

Just how independent it will be remains moot: a quango accountable to government, not parliament, it will need ministerial approval of the professional standards it polices. But the social work world sees the lifting of the spectre of regulation by a government department as a clear win.

Another success being celebrated is the withdrawal of clauses from the bill that would have allowed councils to seek exemptions from children’s social care law to test innovative ways of working. Critics saw the idea as erosion of vital safeguards and mounted a strong, successful campaign against it – but the issue was almost certainly settled when Eileen Munro, the leading social work academic often cited by ministers in support of professional reform, opposed it.

However, real tensions remain between the government’s social work reform vanguard led by Isabelle Trowler, chief social worker for children, and the bulk of the sector establishment, with plans for accreditation tests for children’s social workers looming as a new flashpoint. But there is a sense of a thawing in relations.

Herbert Laming, sector elder statesman and crossbench peer who led both the seminal inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié, which published its report in 2003, and a review of child protection six years later following the Baby P affair, hopes the thaw continues. He tells me: “What social work needs above all at this time is a bit of tender loving care.”

In a lecture on Wednesday at the University of Suffolk, Lord Laming will spell out the enormously high expectations that society has of frontline workers’ skills and judgment when dealing with vulnerable children and adults. The task, he will say, has been made infinitely more difficult by austerity, which is why he joined the call for withdrawal of the exemption clauses at this point even though he understood and backed the case for innovation.

Social workers are crying out for support and encouragement, Laming says. He is surely right. There has been too much stick and not enough carrot in the mix of late.

Good social workers are invaluable. So let’s give them proper support | David Brindle

Plight of child workers facing cocktail of toxic chemicals exposed by report

Children as young as eight, working in the tanneries of Bangladesh producing leather that is in demand across Europe and the USA, are exposed to toxic chemical cocktails that are likely to shorten their lives, according to a new report.

Approximately 90% of those who live and work in the overcrowded urban slums of Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar, where hazardous chemicals are discharged into the air, streets and river, die before they reach 50, according to the World Health Organisation.

Their plight spurred the volunteer doctors of Médicines Sans Frontières (MSF) to set up clinics in the area to diagnose and treat those who are the victims of their workplace. It is, says a paper published in BMJ Case Reports, “the first time they have intervened in an area for reasons other than natural disasters or war”.

MSF’s intervention was triggered by “the widespread industrial negligence and apathy of owners of tanneries and other hazardous material factories” towards the more than 600,000 largely migrant population who have no access to government-funded healthcare.

MSF set up and ran four main clinics for 5,000 workers in 2015, located in the centre of communities involved in four different manufacturing processes at factories for tanning, plastics recycling, garment-making and metals.

The hazards of the 250 or so tanneries in Hazaribagh – which are 30 to 35 years old and discharge 6,000 cubic metres of toxic effluent and 10 tonnes of solid waste every day – are best known. In 2012, Human Rights Watch produced a report called “Toxic Tanneries” which revealed the flouting of Bangladesh’s own laws as well as international law in the employment of children under 18 in work that is harmful or hazardous.

The factories douse animal skins in cauldrons of chemicals as part of the processing of “Bengali black” leather, which is exported to European leather goods manufacturers in Italy, Spain and elsewhere.

“Apart from heavy metals like chromium, cadmium, lead and mercury, a conglomerate of chemicals are discharged by the tanneries into the environment,” says the paper. “Workers aged eight and older are soaked to the skin, breathing the fumes for most of the day and eat and live in these surroundings throughout the year. Personal protective equipment [is] not provided.”

Child workers clad in no more than loin cloths and wellington boots are exposed to chemicals including formaldehyde, hydrogen sulphide and sulphuric acid, write Venkiteswaran Muralidhar, associate professor at the Sri Balaji Medical college in Chennai, and colleagues.

The other factories– for plastics recycling, garments and metals – are in Kamrangirchar, an urban slum which is not officially part of Dhaka city. “In these, there are complex risk hazards from cotton dust, heavy metals and chemicals like mercury, phthalates, acids and dioxins and ergonomic hazards,” says the paper.

Chronic skin and lung diseases are common, say the authors. Within six months of the setting up of the clinics, 3,200 of the 5,000 eligible workers had come forward for at least one consultation. Among them, 468 (14.6%) were diagnosed with suspected work-related diseases, and 30 (0.9%) had work-related injuries.

The figures do not reflect the overall harm to the population, however, said Muralidhar. Those who are severely injured by chemicals or accidents would not go to one of the clinics. “They will probably be taken by rickshaw to a hospital in Dhaka,” he told the Guardian. And the clinics were only open four days a week, during the daytime, and workers needed the owner’s permission to go for a consultation.

He feels strongly that a hospital should be set up in the slum to help its people. “They are the most horrible conditions you can imagine,” he told the Guardian. “I work in this area. I have never seen anything as bad as this.”

Plight of child workers facing cocktail of toxic chemicals exposed by report

Male construction workers at greatest risk of suicide, study finds

Men working in the construction industry and women employed in culture, media and sport, healthcare and primary school teaching are at the highest risk of suicide, official figures for England suggest.

The research, commissioned by Public Health England (PHE), found people in roles as managers, directors and senior officials – the highest paid occupation group – had the lowest risk of suicide.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) looked at all 18,998 deaths of people aged 20 to 64 – a rate of about 12 deaths for every 100,000 people per year – who killed themselves in England between 2011 and 2015. Of these records, 13,232 had information on the deceased’s occupation.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50 and about four in five (10,688) deaths included in the analysis were among men.

The ONS found low-skilled male construction workers had the greatest risk, at 3.7 times above the national average.

Building finishing trades, including plasterers, painters and decorators, had a risk twice the national average and the risk for low-skilled workers in process plant operations was 2.6 times higher. The agricultural sector also carried an elevated risk for men, more than 1.5 times above the average for both low-skilled and high-skilled workers.

For women, the risk was elevated among those working in culture, media and sport occupations, at 0.69 times higher than the national average, compared with 0.2 times higher for men.

The risk of suicide among female health professionals was about a quarter higher than the national average, largely driven by suicides among nurses, and it was 0.42 times higher for primary and nursery school teachers, although lower than average for the teaching and education profession as a whole.

The risk among male and female carers was almost twice the national average but among corporate managers and directors the risk was more than two-thirds lower for both sexes.

The ONS said previous studies suggested an occupation may have a high risk because of low pay and job security and/or access to or knowledge of methods of suicide.

The Samaritans chief executive, Ruth Sutherland, said: “We spend a third of our lives at work and one fifth of us experience suicidal thoughts, so these resources are much needed. We shouldn’t stop there though – it is up to us to create a culture in our workplaces where people feel safe enough to talk about their feelings and get support if they need it.”

PHE said the research, published on Friday, will help build a better understanding of factors that influence suicide and help identify where inequalities exist among different groups.

The PHE chief executive, Duncan Selbie, said: “People who die from suicide are usually not in contact with health services, and often push through in silence as their ability to cope deteriorates. With more than two-thirds of adults in employment, the workplace offers an opportunity to reach people who need extra support.

“I urge all employers, large or small, public or private sector to treat mental health as seriously as physical health. Early action can stop any employees reaching a desperate stage. Simple actions can make a huge difference – talking with a manager or colleague can help people get the support they need, and ultimately save lives.”

PHE, Business in the Community and the Samaritans have published toolkits to help employers prevent and respond to suicides.

The ONS limited its analysis to occupations where there were 50 suicides or more so that relative mortality rates could be estimated more precisely.

• In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here

Male construction workers at greatest risk of suicide, study finds

"Lots of nurses have already left": EU workers head for exit

Since news of the UK’s looming departure from the European Union hit, lots of industries have spoken out about fears of losing European workers. On Monday academics from Oxford University said staff would go if they were not reassured about their future. It comes amid news that EU citizens working in the NHS are thinking of leaving in the next five years.

We asked you about how the loss of European workers may affect, or is already affecting, your sector. We heard from a variety of people, including professors and doctors, who expressed concern that workers are already leaving. Here are a selection of your stories.

Construction worker

John, 51: The unwelcome atmosphere is turning people away from construction

I am an Irish national who has lived and worked in London for nearly 30 years. I’ve made my life and family here. I’ve added to the community and to the industry. Throughout the UK, there is a lack of adequate training or interest from many in joining the construction industry. There has always been a strong interest from migrant communities. In my experience, the unwelcome atmosphere is turning people away and we do not train or encourage people into this industry. We need migrant workers.

Photograph: Martin Dalton/REX/Shutterstock

Financial consultant

Andy, 39: We had a large number of Europeans working here but now they are nearly all gone

I work for a medium-sized financial provider who deals with a very diverse client base from around Europe. I am an EU citizen myself, but I am still in the UK. At work we had a large number of Europeans working in our customer support and sales teams but now they are nearly all gone (they have either progressed somewhere else in London or have left the country). We have now two non-Europeans who both can speak French in customer support. Only one guy in the sales department speaks German. He now does everything for the German client base. If he is sick or on holiday we have no German front office. We have no more Spanish or Italian speakers. The sad part is that overall we have actually increased the number of EU employees, just not in the UK. Around 40-50% of the overall workforce has left as we moved technical departments and finance functions (even director positions) abroad to keep access to our European markets. Most of those who lost their jobs were English. And with every job that moves abroad the London office loses relevance.

The doctor

May, 43: I predict many doctors will leave, especially those now in training

EU nationals working in the NHS express significant concerns regarding their right to stay and their careers. London used to be a world-open and liberal place, welcoming and supportive. Working in the NHS was stimulating and exciting. The outlook for the future is bleak. And there is zero reassuring communication from the UK government. I predict many doctors – especially in training – will leave. I have worked for the NHS 16 years. I have personally spoken to many doctors and midwives who are strongly considering leaving. I know of people who did not renew research contracts but I have not met anyone who has left already.

European people working for the NHS feel utterly disappointed and disillusioned.

May

The team spirit in the NHS was and is stimulating. However, it is mainly created by the multinational teams that have in common a love and dedication to their specialty and medicine in general. British people hugely benefited. With the Brexit vote it feels that this effort, hard work and dedication is completely unappreciated and ignored. It is no surprise European and non-European people working for the NHS feel utterly disappointed and disillusioned. They will go where their work is appreciated.

Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

The entrepreneur

Gerard, 31: I plan to shut down operations in London for Berlin. I don’t want to deal with Brexit

I work for an internet startup across London and Berlin. I see both cities competing already for tech talent. London will definitely lose that battle long-term. I haven’t left yet, but I plan to shut down operations in the UK when article 50 is triggered. I’m lucky enough to have clients in Europe or unlucky enough to have them there – whatever the case I don’t want to deal with Brexit.

Since then I’ve been taking fewer UK clients knowing I will leave. I just feel sadly unwelcome now.

Gerard

I loved London and I will always remember refreshing the Guardian website while counting the referendum results. It was like everything I was building fell apart. Since then I’ve been taking [fewer] UK clients knowing I will leave. I just feel sadly unwelcome now.

The professor

Simon, 51: I am moving to another EU country to take up another university post

I work in the university sector and the lifeblood of our work is provided by academics and researchers from all over the world, particularly from the EU. In addition, many of our students come to the university to study from abroad. The European Union’s framework funding programmes including Horizon 2020 have been key to ensuring that the UK punches well above its weight in research and development. The loss of EU workers and access to the networks provided by the EU will have a devastating effect on the UK higher education sector.

I am a UK national who has decided to leave. I am moving to another EU country to take up another university post. Although Brexit was not the only reason for this move (the new role will be an advancement in my career), it was a decisive factor in making me apply for the job given the future uncertainties in the UK higher education sector.

The nurse

Karen, 40: Five nurses have left already

Before [the] Brexit [vote] we used to have hundreds of applicants in nursing. Now we hardly see 50. All staff are tired and worried about what will come next. In my department 60% of nurses are EU citizens and already five of them have handed in their notice. I am an EU citizen myself and I’m already making plans to leave UK for good. The healthcare sector will collapse and I don’t want to be part of it.

Web designer

Ben, 25: A European worker recently left. It was a big loss for the team

I work in web design and development. We’ve benefited greatly from the expertise of EU workers in our team. But now one of our main designers, responsible for delivering engaging websites, print media, presentations etc for clients has left. Her husband is in research of some sort (I’m not sure exactly what it is) and his funding was moved out of the UK. Given that she wasn’t feeling welcome in the UK any more, it was a no-brainer for them to simply move. It is a big loss for the team.

• Some names have been changed

"Lots of nurses have already left": EU workers head for exit

NHS workers urged to be alert for sepsis and treat within an hour

The NHS is being urged to be alert for the warning signs of sepsis, potentially fatal blood poisoning, and to treat adults or children within an hour.

New draft guidance to all health professionals, from GPs and practice nurses to hospital doctors, warns that patients can become very sick very rapidly and urges speedy review and treatment.

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) which has produced the guidance, said: “Severe symptoms can develop in sepsis very quickly. If high-risk patients are not identified and treated promptly, people can be left with debilitating problems. In the worst cases, they may die.

“This quality standard highlights priorities in the continued fight to improve sepsis care. We know from recent case reviews that there are inconsistencies in how people’s symptoms are assessed in different settings. More can be done to provide rapid treatment.”

GPs, paramedics, A&E staff and other health professionals should know the symptoms to look for. They can include a mottled or ashen appearance, blueness about the skin, lips and tongue and a rash that does not go away when the skin is pressed.

Those at risk need to be seen by senior hospital staff and given antibiotics and fluids within an hour, says the guidance. If it will take longer than an hour to get to hospital, GPs, practice nurses and ambulance staff can give the life-saving treatment.

There are concerns that cases of sepsis, which can be caused by an infection in various parts of the body, are being missed. In 2015, an inquiry found that 40% of patients with sepsis who arrived in A&E had not been reviewed by senior doctors quickly enough. There were also avoidable delays in giving patients intravenous antibiotics in nearly a third of cases (29%).

“Every death from sepsis is a tragedy, yet too often the warning signs are missed – we need to get far better at spotting sepsis across the NHS and this advice shows how vital it is for clinicians to treat life-threatening symptoms as soon as possible,” said health secretary Jeremy Hunt.

“Our relentless drive to raise awareness of this deadly condition, as well as the tireless efforts of campaigners and families who have lost loved ones, has seen a million leaflets and posters already distributed to GP clinics, hospitals and other public places – helping raise awareness to fight against this devastating condition.”

Julie Mellor, the Parliamentary and Health Service ombudsman, said: “We are pleased Nice has produced this guidance following our recommendation to ensure faster diagnosis and treatment of sepsis, ultimately saving thousands of lives. We have seen too many cases of families who have lost their loved ones to this condition due to delays and missed warning signs.”

NHS workers urged to be alert for sepsis and treat within an hour

UK workers take fewest sick days since records began

Britons were more likely to struggle into work last year with coughs and colds than at any time since records began almost a quarter of a century ago, according to official figures.

About 137m working days were lost from illness and injury in 2016, said the Office for National Statistics, equivalent to 4.3 days per worker, the lowest rate since 1993, when it was 7.2 days.

Minor illnesses such as coughs and colds accounted for almost a quarter of the days lost due to sickness in 2016, at 34m. The second most common reason for not turning up to work was musculoskeletal problems including back pain, neck and upper limb problems, which accounted for 22.4% of days lost to sickness.

Mental health issues including stress, depression, anxiety and more serious conditions such as manic depression and schizophrenia resulted in 15.8m days being lost or 11.5%.

The total number of work days lost to sickness and injury peaked in the late 1990s at 185m. Although the figure reached a low of 132m in 2013, before rising again in 2014 and 2015, this was down to a steep increase in the working population.

The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said the fall in the sickness rate showed that “it is a myth that UK workers are always throwing sickies”.

She said: “We are really a nation of mucus troopers, with people more likely to go to work when ill than stay at home when well.

“Sickness absence rates have fallen steadily over the past decade, and let’s not forget that working people put in billions of pounds’ worth of unpaid overtime each year.”

The ONS said the groups with the highest rates of sickness absence were women, older workers, those with long-term health conditions, smokers, public health sector workers and those working in the largest organisations.

“The groups that have seen the greatest reduction in sickness absence rates over the past two decades are workers with long-term health conditions, workers aged 50 to 64, and those in the public sector,” it said.

Wales and Scotland suffered the highest rates of sickness absence in the UK, at 2.6% and 2.5% respectively, while the lowest rate was found in London at 1.4%.

Employees lost 2.1% of the year to sickness compared with 1.4% for the self-employed and the public sector lost 2.9% compared with 1.7% for workers in private firms last year.

ONS statistician Brendan Freeman said: “Since 2003, there has been a fairly steady decline in the number of working days lost to sickness, especially during the economic downturn.

“In recent years, there has been a small rise in the number of days lost, but due to an increasing number of people entering the workforce, the rate per worker and overall sickness absence rate have stayed largely flat.”

UK workers take fewest sick days since records began

Study Shows That Remote Workers Have Increased Risk for Burnout

Burnout is not a foreign concept for the workforce. Things like stress, lack of sleep, and repetition can all contribute to burnout, reducing productivity and diminishing quality of life. Interestingly, a new report reveals that burnout is much worse for those who work from home.

How Burnout Affects Remote Workers

UniqueIQ research showed that remote workers were among the most likely to suffer burnout. There are many factors that contribute to this problem.

For one thing, work-from-home employees are more detached from society. They spend hours without anyone around while they work on different tasks. Countless studies have revealed that social interaction is essential for mental health, and remote workers often find themselves deprived of such stimulation.

Freelancers are also more likely to put in extra hours than they might in an office, especially when there are looming deadlines. Their schedule is flexible, and the lines between working and personal time are often blurred. Productive, focused work at home is often more difficult to manage than at the workplace because you can usually fit more work into an hour at home. As a result, it’s easier to overwork yourself.

More research shows that when average in-office workers spend more than 50 hours per week in the office, their productivity declines. For freelancers, productivity decreases even faster, at 35-40 hours because of the extra focus required.

The average person can’t sustain this style of overworking for too long, and their health can suffer. They exercise less, eat out more often, choose unhealthy snacks, sleep odd hours, and have less social interaction.

Stop Burnout Before It Occurs

Burnout is obviously a problem and it needs a solution. Employees will see a drastic decrease in quality of life and companies will see less productivity if they continue to let their employees overwork themselves.

“Failing to recognize this need for wellness in the workplace, and the benefits that can be enjoyed from implementing appropriate strategies, could be detrimental to many companies in the future,” reports Eileen Brown of ZDNet.

Companies can’t sustain employees who become unproductive and make a lot of mistakes. For their health and job stability, employees should recognize the signs of burnout and develop some strategies to combat it.

Use Your Resources

Technology makes working from home possible, and it also eases the process. Take advantage of the tools available to make work faster and decrease working hours.

For example, certain communication tools can reduce stress and help you better organize your schedule. When it’s easier to communicate with your employers and collaborators, you’re less likely to experience burnout.

Solicit Flexibilty with Your Employers

Oftentimes, your employers are unaware that you’re getting more work than you can handle. Simply asking for some flexibility can make all the difference.

“Home working must be strategically implemented with the correct procedures in place in order to ensure the happiness and wellness of staff is maintained,” reports David Lynes, director of UniqueIQ.

“It is important for management to keep a close eye on the working routine of those that operate from home in order to become aware of those that may be at risk of burning out, but understandably this is difficult without any physical presence.”

Exercise and Socialize

Take care of your body physically and mentally. As you do this, you’ll realign your priorities to target better health, even if it means stretching out a deadline.

Spend time with people daily. You might talk on the phone with friends or go out to eat regularly with someone you’re close to. If you join a gym, you’ll have an opportunity for socialization and exercise at the same time. You can connect with people in fitness classes or go with a friend.

By taking time for yourself, your mental capacity will heighten, translating into more productive work.

Study Shows That Remote Workers Have Increased Risk for Burnout

New concerns over BPA as workers exposed to levels 70 times the average

Health concerns over Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in plastic packaging and the lining of food cans, are well documented. Previous studies have linked low levels of BPA to a variety of potential health issues, including obesity, diabetes and fertility problems. A 2008 ruling by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) found that low exposure to the chemical is safe because it is generally ingested orally and thus eliminated from the body quickly, although research is ongoing to determine the chemical’s impact on human hormones.

However, a new study – the first of its kind in the US – has looked at the exposure levels of people who come into contact with high doses of BPA, and found that employees who directly handle the plasticizing chemical had urine levels of BPA around 70 times greater than that of the average US adult.

The federal study, carried out by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh), looked at BPA levels in the urine of 78 American manufacturing workers employed at six companies that either manufacture BPA or use it to make other products.

BPA is used in the production of plastic food containers, the lining of food and soda cans, and in thermal receipt paper. Because of the ubiquity of BPA in food containers, and its ability to leach into food or drink, the estrogen-mimicking chemical can be found in the urine of most of the US population. In addition to finding it in urine, studies have found the chemical in breast milk and umbilical cord blood. BPA was originally researched as a potential source of synthetic estrogen before its current use in plastic manufacturing.

“The Niosh study is a wake-up call about the dangers of workplace exposure to BPA,” says Noah Sachs, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law and director of the Merhige Center for Environmental Studies. “Every company that manufacturers BPA or uses it as a raw material has a responsibility to workers to prevent such excessive BPA exposures. Business-as-usual is putting BPA workers at risk.”

Studies surrounding the long term effects of BPA on health and reproduction have previously centered on consumer exposure. Pressure from consumer advocates led to manufacturers voluntarily removing the chemical from baby bottles and sippy cups in the US. The FDA eventually also banned it from baby formula packaging. Outside the US, a law prohibiting the use of BPA in food packaging of any kind went into effect in France in 2015. The US has attempted to pass similar legislation outlawing the use of BPA in all food containers, most recently with the introduction of the Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2016.

While the Niosh study highlights the high levels of BPA found in US manufacturing workers, it does not assess any potential health effects from that exposure.
Previous studies in Chinese manufacturing workers, who had similar levels of BPA in their urine to the workers in the Niosh study, found that male employees who handled BPA had lower levels of testosterone, decreased semen quality and higher levels of self-reported sexual dysfunction.

While the Niosh study raises serious concerns, before there are any policy changes, regulatory bodies will require more research with a larger pool of subjects to show the consequences of BPA exposure in manufacturing workers, explained Lori Hoepner, assistant professor at Suny Downstate Medical Center School of Public Health.

Currently, the Occupational Safety and Health Association (Osha) does not set any workplace exposure limit for BPA. Without Osha exposure limits for the chemical, manufacturing workers who are concerned by their exposure to BPA don’t have any real recourse when to avoiding the chemical on the job. “Workers could request reassignment or more protective BPA handling equipment, but they could face retaliation or getting fired,” says Sachs.

To help convince Osha of the potential dangers of BPA exposure for manufacturing workers, a longitudinal study showing the impact of the endocrine disrupting chemical over time would be needed. But longitudinal studies are notoriously expensive and getting manufacturers to agree to the studies would be difficult, explains Hoepner. For example, collecting urine samples multiple times during the workday, as in the Niosh study, is disruptive for companies.

Any kind of policy change from Osha will take years, says Sachs. “We know from past experience that an Osha rulemaking to set a permissible exposure limit can often take five to seven years, with industry challenging it every step of the way.”

Ideally, Osha should initiate that rule making on its own because it is obligated by law to set a standard that assures, to the extent feasible, no “material impairment” of worker health, even if a worker is exposed to that substance for a lifetime.

While there may not be enough evidence yet for Osha to set limits for worker exposure to BPA, amid growing consumer concern over the chemical, scientists and manufacturers have explored alternatives. BPA substitutes like bisphenol F (BPF) and Bisphenol S (BPS) have been used in plastics that are labeled BPA-free to appeal to consumers. “BPA free is a misnomer,” explains Hoepner. “It should really say BPA substitute.” BPF and BPS are very similar in terms of chemical structure to BPA and there are indicators that they may have similar health effects.

Another alternative that has been studied by scientists is using plastic made from plants. “Studies have determined that it is possible to economically and beneficially switch to plant-based plastic,” Hoepner says. “It costs a lot at the start to make the switch but it pays for itself over time.”

Because of the large economic investment needed to make the switch, companies have been reticent to switch their plastic production. But as companies continue to face pressure to switch away from BPA, and consumers become more savvy and discerning about their plastic consumption, manufactures may eventually make the switch as a way to appeal to customers.

For now, there are no new guidelines around BPA exposure for manufacturing workers around the corner, though Sachs is hopeful that the Niosh study will prompt advocates to file petitions with Osha to set permissible exposure limits for BPA.

But, when it comes to any immediate changes, Sachs warns: “I’m not optimistic about any new BPA regulations under the Trump administration, which has already shown that it disregards scientific conclusions.”

New concerns over BPA as workers exposed to levels 70 times the average

"Just say death!" Plays teach healthcare workers about end-of-life care

Seth Goodburn seemed fit and well until two weeks before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died just 33 days after diagnosis, spending much of that short time in hospital. In the emotional whirlwind of coping with the poor prognosis his wife, Lesley, felt their hopes for Seth’s end-of-life care were sidelined by medical professionals trying to do their job.

“The NHS focuses on the medicine and trying to fix people even when that’s not possible,” she says. “A lot of the conversations and decisions that we might have made were overshadowed by dealing with what was the next medical treatment and intervention.”

There is an ongoing conversation in the medical profession about how to care for terminally ill patients, given that the profession’s instinct is to preserve life. The issue is just one of many being address by Brian Daniels, a playwright commissioned by the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) to tell stories such as Goodburn’s through plays, and help educate healthcare professionals about patients and families’ experiences of end-of-life care.

Homeward Bound, a play based on a series of letters Lesley Goodburn wrote, in the months after her husband’s death, to medical professionals involved in his care, launched NCPC’s national conference this year to an audience of 300 healthcare workers.

In addition, Daniels’ plays on early onset dementia and palliative care for those with disabilities, have been performed in hospitals, hospices, care homes and to general audiences across the country. Daniels says: “[They] take people out of their professional role for a minute to look at the family and human side of the people they’re dealing with.”

For Goodburn, that human aspect is key. She could not fault the professionalism of those involved in caring for her husband, but says poor communication could leave the couple feeling worse. “There were just so many things where people weren’t cruel or unkind or deliberately unthinking, but just didn’t really think about what it was like to be me and Seth. He went from being well and living a normal life to suddenly being told that he was dying.” She says, for example, a physiotherapist asked Seth to march on the spot as part of an assessment to see if he was able to go home, as he had previously wished, seemingly unaware that his condition had deteriorated and he was dying.

An actor in Don’t Leave Me Now. Photograph: NCPC

Claire Henry, chief executive of the NCPC, says plays such as Homeward Bound are designed to encourage medical professionals to reflect on the people going through this traumatic process. “We obviously work very closely with people who have experience and they tell us their stories. Some are good, some not so good. Healthcare professionals don’t go to work to do a bad job, but sometimes they don’t think of things that affect people in a broader sense.”

What impact does a play have that a lecture, for instance, cannot? Don’t Leave Me Now, another play by Daniels, about early onset dementia, was performed at St Gemma’s hospice in Leeds to an audience including nurses, housekeeping staff and workers from other local hospices. Dr Mike Stockton, its director of medicine and consultant in palliative medicine, says the play enabled them to see some of families’ and patients’ challenges through a different lens. “It’s sometimes hard to have a full understanding … of what people may be going through and the reasons behind their actions or the emotional challenges, adjustments or the resilience that people need.”

Lynn Cawley agrees. There was barely a dry eye at a performance at Morley Arts Festival in October of Bounce Back Boy, the powerful dramatisation of her adopted son, Josh’s, story. Josh was severely disabled following a serious head injury as a baby, and later adopted by Cawley. Despite pioneering medical treatment throughout Josh’s life, Cawley says he was denied admission as an inpatient to a local hospice because his needs were too complex, and died a difficult death at home. She is fighting to end what she describes as end of life discrimination against those with disabilities.

Cawley thinks a play is an effective way of communicating that message, and for getting people to think about palliative care more broadly. She says: “When it’s someone’s real life story, people put themselves in it [and] they might think of a patient that they know. We hope that it will change policy but also people’s attitudes.”

For Stockton, working in a hospice, the wider issue of how treatment is balanced with patient comfort is a daily consideration. He says the two can often be done together: “It is about having early, thorough, open, honest, transparent conversations with people about what they want.”

For Cawley, as a carer and mother who went through the palliative process, those open conversations about dying are key. “We even find it hard to say the word,” she says. “When we’re watching Casualty on a Saturday night and they’re trying to tell a relative that somebody is dying, but they won’t say the word dying or death, we’re just like – say death!”

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"Just say death!" Plays teach healthcare workers about end-of-life care

Mental health social workers aren"t giving up hope, nor are their service users

I entered the field of mental health social work just a few weeks ago, joining a psychosis team. I had been warned by friends, family, taxi drivers and the media that this area of work is in dire straits and suffering hugely from cuts and poor practice.

After a couple of days, I could confirm that the former is true: swingeing cuts have had a drastic effect. Therapeutic groups and the time practitioners are able to spend with service users are incredibly stretched, and diaries no longer set aside any time for breaks – or, it seems, any time to breathe. However, my observations of current practice contradict the tales of woe.

I spent one day with a mental health support worker, shadowing him on four home visits with service users, and I was touched by the remarkable work he is doing. In the car between visits, we spoke about the value of things like listening, getting fresh air, and working collaboratively with each service user.

I had come across words like “collaborative” and “active listening” time and again in literature and legislation on mental health practice, but had pessimistically assumed that, for the most part, this language served to tick boxes for inspectors.

The support worker valued the time spent with each service user as much as they did with him

Here, I witnessed these things being practised in the truest, most genuine sense. The support worker valued the time spent with each service user as much as they did with him, and I observed them continuously teaching and learning from one another.

This was not in an expensive psychiatric unit or over a £4 coffee, but simply during walks, exploring new areas and the changing seasons, discovering the best places to go. It occurred to me that so much essential work, even administrative obligations, could take place in these settings. Why not?

Understanding of what good practice means is changing, and mental health finally seems to be taking centre stage in public discourse.

Unfortunately, because these changes have taken place in the era of austerity, many ideas about the value of a social approach feel unfeasible in practice. As a result, a return to a medical model is tempting, and can seem like the most time-saving and cost-effective option. However, from what I have seen, expensive medication with often complex side effects, compares poorly with therapeutic support.

Medication is undeniably an important part of recovery for some service users, but the knowledge that they have been prescribed drugs to alter their thoughts automatically places them in a category of “in need”, or in some sense “less human”.

The social work I have observed is therapeutic input at its best. Despite the challenges ahead – inevitable in every job – I am so grateful that the negative attitudes towards the field of mental healthcare are being challenged and contradicted in daily practice. Workers, such as the people I’ve met, are not giving up hope, and as a result, service users are not giving up hope either. This, to me, is the greatest outcome we could wish for.

The Social Life Blog is written by people who work in or use social care services. If you’d like to write for the series, email socialcare@theguardian.com with your ideas.

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Mental health social workers aren"t giving up hope, nor are their service users

New York extends filing deadline for 9/11 rescue workers seeking compensation

New York state has reopened the window for workers and volunteers seeking compensation for lost wages and medical benefits arising from their involvement in the rescue, recovery and clean-up at the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

A law signed by the Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, on Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the attacks that caused the collapse of the twin towers in lower Manhattan, extends the claims filing deadline until 11 September 2018. It lapsed two years ago.

“We still feel the pain and the loss like it was yesterday, and the thousands of brave men and women who stepped up in our darkest hour are still grappling with the after-effects,” Cuomo said at the signing in Manhattan.

The law also authorizes new claims for related injuries and illnesses since the attacks through this year’s anniversary for workers’ compensation, disability and accidental death benefits that were disallowed because of late filing.

This weekend, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the time of 9/11, former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, told the Guardian she was sorry for the agency’s advice in the aftermath of the attacks that the air around Ground Zero in New York was safe to breathe.

“Whatever we got wrong, we should acknowledge and people should be helped,” she said, adding that she still “feels awful” about the tragedy and its aftermath.

“I’m very sorry that people are sick,” she said. “I’m very sorry that people are dying and if the EPA and I in any way contributed to that, I’m sorry. We did the very best we could at the time with the knowledge we had.”

Dr Jim Melius, a member of the advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch, said: “Within the next five years we will be at the point where more people have died from World Trade Center-related illnesses than died from the immediate impact of the attacks.”

Almost 3,000 people were killed on 9/11 in attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington, and in the crash of a fourth hijacked airliner in a field in Pennsylvania.

Melius, who is also a doctor at the New York State Laborers Union, an adviser to the White House on worker health and chair of the steering committee overseeing the government health program for 9/11 responders, added: “There are a lot of people who are very, very ill with lung disease who will see at least 10 years taken from their normal life span.

“We are already seeing many more premature deaths occurring, and among younger people, from the cancers. There is going to be a new generation of widows and widowers.”

At the bill signing on Sunday, Sal Turturici, who attended in a wheelchair, said of the extension: “It’s going to help a lot of people who are in harm’s way right now. They’re on the end of losing their benefits because they’re running out of time or running out of any grants or any kind of time to get to extend their pay, so they’re falling off the payroll.”

Turturici’s wife, a fire department paramedic like her husband, said he was diagnosed on 4 October with terminal cancer. Wendi Turturici said Cuomo had given her hope that she can take care of their three young children and give her husband peace.

Thousands of people who aided in the rescue and recovery effort were found to have respiratory ailments and other health problems in the years after the attacks. Cancer has remained the biggest fear for people exposed to the gritty soot at the site.

New York extends filing deadline for 9/11 rescue workers seeking compensation

UK workers consume 800 extra calories a week while commuting

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Royal Society for Public Health study finds snacking on junk food largely to blame for additional consumption on work journeys

The average UK commuter consumes nearly 800 additional calories a week while travelling to and from work, often as a result of unhealthy snacking, a study has found.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), which commissioned the research, said longer commutes are potentially shortening lives by increasing stress, limiting sleep and physical activity, and encouraging unhealthy eating.

Related: Meet the supercommuters: how to survive five hours of travel every day

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UK workers consume 800 extra calories a week while commuting

When I shadowed social workers, I saw how they fight for people

It’s a bleak and rainy morning, and shortly after 10am a woman arrives to meet with her social worker. Over the past few months she has grown increasingly reliant on alcohol, drinking wine and vodka daily. She lives with her estranged husband and two sons, aged 28 and nine. Her husband has sole custody of the younger son, who wants nothing to do with his mother. She tells the social worker that when she doesn’t drink, she wants to die.

At the appointment she reveals large bruises on her stomach, caused by her husband. It’s not clear what sparked the violence, but it immediately becomes a safeguarding issue – her safety is at risk – and the team call an urgent meeting to discuss next steps.

They agree on an immediate referral to detox and rehabilitation. Later in the afternoon we have a panel meeting with a senior manager to discuss and sign off the case – every referral costs money, and all costs need to approved. Fortunately, this one is approved, and the woman will be in residential detox within days.

Social care cuts have come at a cost. Service users receive less holistic care, and caseloads are tighter

During the day I also attend a home visit, where I meet a 34-year-old man who has recently been discharged from a psychiatric hospital. He suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and an array of other health issues. For the past year he has suffered from psychotic episodes, believing that his neighbour is trying to kill him.

He has been on anti-psychotic medicine for two months, which appears to be helping. This is the first time the social worker has met with the family. I am reminded how brave social workers are, knocking on the doors of strangers with often complex and unpredictable conditions.

The social worker introduces herself, and outlines the role she will play in coordinating the man’s care. It’s an opportunity to build trust and rapport. The man and his wife are in a cheerful mood, appearing grateful and cooperative. Yet I’m reminded how fragile these relationships can be. On mentioning the doctor who prescribes his medication, the man becomes angry and tells us that he wants nothing more to do with her. Apparently he does not trust the dosage level he is receiving.

There was some downtime during the day where I had the opportunity to meet with social workers more informally. I had already read about the challenges facing the profession and these were apparent throughout my day in the team.

Budgets are tight. One team I spoke to had experienced a 60% drop in funding over the last four years. They’ve managed to make the necessary savings, but it has come at a cost. Service users receive less holistic care and caseloads are higher. Red tape and bureaucracy also mean that social workers spend more time at their desks filling out complex forms, and less time in the community with the people they are trying to help. This is having an impact on morale and performance overall.

Related: What can the UK learn from New York’s approach to mental health?

At times during the day I found myself questioning whether it’s wise to retrain in a profession being squeezed and cut in so many ways. Towards the end of the day I quietly observe the waiting area of the office, where I watch service users arrive to meet with their social workers. One enthusiastically speaks about her weekend city break, where she danced the night away. Another arrives to seek advice about attending rehab. It is obvious that social workers play a key role in their lives, listening to their concerns and offering guidance and advice.

Often service users’ only advocates, social workers stand up and fight for their rights, ensuring that they receive the care and support that they so desperately need. Without this, many more would fall through the cracks, left alone with the agony of mental illness. It is for these reasons that I remain as driven as ever to retrain as a mental health social worker with Think Ahead.

*Some details have been changed to protect the identities of service users and family members involved.

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When I shadowed social workers, I saw how they fight for people

NHS workers: what advice do you have for new junior doctors?

On Wednesday, thousands of newly qualified medical graduates start work in hospitals across the country.

Junior doctors will take to hospital wards after years of studying and doing work placements. They are supposed to work with a senior colleague before changeover day, to settle into their role before being expected to take on responsibility.

We want to know what advice you have for the junior doctors starting work in August. If you are a doctor, nurse, paramedic, healthcare assistant, admin staff or other healthcare professional working in a hospital with new staff, how have you found working with newly qualified medical graduates in previous years? Is there anything they should avoid? What top tips have you got for them?

Or, if you’re a patient, what would you like to tell the people who will care for you when they first start out?

We want to hear from you. Share your advice by filling in the form below. We’ll use a selection in our reporting.

NHS workers: what advice do you have for new junior doctors?

NHS workers to be balloted on strike action over pay

The government’s refusal to let a 1% spend rise demonstrates a contempt for NHS workers, stated Unison. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Hundreds of 1000′s of NHS staff will be balloted more than strike action in a row over pay out, it has been announced.

The union Unison mentioned it would ask 300,000 of its members to back walkouts following the government’s decision not to accept a advisable across-the-board 1% wage rise for NHS staff.

If accredited the industrial action will take area in early October, followed by additional waves of strike action.

Hospitals across the nation could encounter disruption if nurses, therapists, porters, paramedics, healthcare secretaries, cooks, cleaners and healthcare assistants make a decision to join picket lines.

The union stated the government’s choice not to apply the one% pay out rise advised by the NHS spend evaluation body would deny 60% of NHS employees and 70% of nurses a shell out rise for the next two many years.

Christina McAnea, head of overall health at Unison, explained: “Balloting for strike action is not an straightforward decision – especially in the NHS. But this government is showing total contempt for NHS staff.

“It has swept aside the spend assessment body’s recommendations and ignored the union’s contact for a honest deal. Our members are angry at the way they are currently being treated and we are left with tiny choice but to ballot for action.

“We hope to work closely with the other overall health unions to strategy and coordinate action. It is not too late nonetheless for [the well being secretary] Jeremy Hunt to agree to additional talks, without preconditions, to settle the dispute.”

The ballot will commence on 28 August and run right up until 18 September.

The Royal University of Midwives (RCM) mentioned it would also ballot its members on no matter whether or not to take industrial action.

It is the very first time in the union’s background that members will be balloted, a spokesman mentioned.

About 26,000 midwives and maternity support workers doing work in the NHS in England will be balloted in September with likely industrial action expected to consider spot in October.

The RCM spokesman explained the action was anticipated to be a quick stoppage followed by action short of a strike.

Members will be asked if they are prepared to get strike action and if they are ready to get industrial action quick of a strike.

“Hard-working midwives are deeply concerned that the independent pay out assessment entire body is getting ignored and the NHS spend framework threatened,” said the RCM chief executive, Cathy Warwick.

“Midwives are at the end of their tether. They have previously accepted lengthy-term shell out restraint and modifications to their pension and terms and problems. Meanwhile they are functioning more difficult and tougher to supply high-high quality care with continuing shortages of midwives and daily pressures on providers.

“In the history of the RCM there has by no means been a ballot for industrial action. Of course it goes without having saying that if it is required to get action RCM members will not put the security and care of women and infants at threat.

“NHS workers have to be valued and relatively rewarded for the work they do. Personnel that are demoralised cannot deliver the high quality of care that NHS end users, including mothers and infants, deserve. Investing in employees is an investment in better care. I hope the government joins the RCM and other unions at the negotiating table, reconsiders their place and seeks a resolution.”

NHS workers to be balloted on strike action over pay

Coalition faces huge strike as biggest unions ballot council workers

Unison leader Dave Prentis said the action could be greater than the 1926 common strike if employees voted for it. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA Wire/Press Association Pictures

The government is this week dealing with up to the prospect of the greatest strike because the coalition came to workplace amid developing anger over spend restraint in the public sector.

The UK’s most significant trade unions are balloting hundreds of 1000′s of council employees in England and Wales in protest at an provide worth one% for most staff.

Unison will announce the outcome of its ballot on Monday, followed by GMB and Unite above the subsequent week.

The Public and Business Companies union is also balloting its members for a strike in a lengthy-running dispute above cuts in the civil support, with the result due by the end of the month.

If workers vote yes, there will be a 1-day strike on ten July, which the Unison leader, Dave Prentis, has predicted could be greater than the 1926 basic strike.

Members of the National Union of Teachers will also take industrial action on 10 July, while firefighters in England and Wales have staged a series of walkouts in excess of pensions in the previous yr and have not ruled out even more stoppages.

Midwives in England could also quickly be balloted for industrial action in protest at the government’s choice not to accept a advisable 1% across-the-board pay rise for NHS employees.

Thousands of midwives and maternity support staff are getting consulted on whether they want a formal ballot for action.

Jon Skewes of the Royal School of Midwives explained: “Midwives are really angry that the government said to them they’d get a 1% pay out rise but now only employees at the top of their pay out scales will get that rise, and it truly is not consolidated into their pay out.

“Jeremy Hunt has picked out wellness workers for harsher treatment method on spend than anybody else in the public sector.

“This is the time for midwives to get a stand since the government is intent on assaulting their shell out and conditions.”

Other well being unions are warning of ballots for industrial action, which could lead to a second wave of public-sector strikes in the autumn.

At the opening of the annual conference of the transport union RMT in Bristol, the acting standard secretary, Mick Income, reinforced calls for co-ordinated action towards cuts and the threat to jobs and operating problems.

He said: “This is the very first RMT AGM given that the death of our standard secretary, Bob Crow, but the fighting, militant organisation that was constructed underneath Bob’s leadership remains in area, as we have proven in a wave of latest disputes from London Underground to Heathrow Express and in ongoing campaigns to defend our members’ jobs, spend and functioning circumstances.

“RMT has lengthy argued for a policy of co-ordinated and generalised strike action that unites every single group of staff threatened with the cosh of austerity and it is encouraging to see that that position is gaining traction the length and breadth of the trade union motion.”

Coalition faces huge strike as biggest unions ballot council workers

Two Mers cases in US did not spread to relatives or healthcare workers

Neither of the two US situations of Mers has spread the typically fatal infection to family members or to healthcare employees who taken care of them in Indiana and Florida, the Centers for Condition Handle and Prevention said on Tuesday.

Both of the US circumstances concerned healthcare employees who traveled to the United States in May from Saudi Arabia, which remains at the center of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) outbreak.

The CDC said test results of specimens from each of the home members and the healthcare staff in hospitals the place the contaminated men have been treated tested unfavorable for each energetic infection and any signs of earlier infection with the virus.

Efforts to get in touch with folks who may possibly have come into get in touch with with the infected guys throughout their travels to the United States are virtually finished, and so far none of these travel contacts has shown signs of MERS infection, the company mentioned.

Mers, which brings about coughing, fever and at times fatal pneumonia, has been reported in much more than 800 patients, largely in Saudi Arabia. It has spread to neighboring nations and, in a few situations, to Europe, Asia and the United States. At least 315 men and women around the world have died from the condition.

Two Mers cases in US did not spread to relatives or healthcare workers