Myths About Public Sector Pay

A good article by Polly Toynbee in yesterday's Guardian debunking the myths being spread by the right-wing press about our terms and conditions.

Margaret Haywood Re-instated

Margaret Haywood, the nurse who was struck off the register (on the grounds of breaching patient confidentiality) for taking part in a Panorama programme that highlighted poor patient care has been re-instated and instead given a one-year caution.  All credit to her union, the RCN,  for supporting her.  Unite also issued a statement of support (see previous blog post).  It is unfortunate that one of the other major health unions actually supported her original punishment.

Cycle to Work Scheme Approved

After months of persistent campaigning by Barry Maguire and David Linsey, the NHSBT has now signed up to the 'Cycle to Work' scheme. This is the arrangement that allows you to get a loan of up to £1000 for a new bicycle and accessories and pay this loan back through salary sacrifice. This means that you pay the loan back from your gross salary and you save on income tax, national insurance and pension contributions. For a standard rate taxpayer, you can save nearly 40% of the cost of the new bicycle and accessories. This compares very favourably with the current loan scheme which will save you around 0.5% over the period of the loan.

Due to the length of the tendering process, the scheme won't be up and running until April 2010. This is a positive step by the NHSBT but it is only a start. To wean staff off their cars, the facilities offered to cyclists and walkers need to be improved with proper changing rooms and showers at all bases and centres. While we often say that donors expect higher standards at our venues, it is equally right that staff should expect higher standards at our workplaces. It is not right that staff are forced to wash and change in the toilets after they cycle to base.

Petition for Margaret Haywood

The Royal College of Nursing is hosting an online petition in support of Margaret Haywood who was struck off the nursing register for breaching the rules on patient confidentiality. 25,000 signatures have been added so far. As more details emerge about this case, the action of the NMC seems even more unjustified. Ms Haywood has had the support of her own union (the RCN) and Unite.

Unite Statement on Margaret Haywood

Unite has released the following statement concerning Margaret Haywood, the nurse who was struck of the register by the NMC after she exposed poor care at her hospital in Brighton. Of course, the NMC claim it was for breaching confidentiality (the same charge levelled against Graham Pink twenty years ago) and not for highlighting the poor care the elderly were receiving at her hospital.

There is also a letter of support from Professor PJ Barker, a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing.

Whistle Blowing Nurse Struck Off

Despite being applauded by advocacy groups for improved care of the elderly, Margaret Haywood, the nurse who filmed the awful conditions in a Brighton hospital for the BBC Panorama programme, has been struck off the register by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. You can read the full decision of the NMC here. As in the case of Karen Reissman, it appears that despite the Public Interest Disclosure Act, it is still the whistle blower who will suffer rather than those exposed for wrong-doing. Up to now, none of the main health union websites have any mention of this case though that may change in the next day or so. An RCN spokesperson supported whistle blowing in general but refused to support Margaret Haywood.

Management Accepts HSE Report on Seating in Full

In a letter written on 30th March 2009 by Jane Pearson and countersigned by Bev Easton (Unison Rep), management have accepted the recommendations made by the Health and Safety Executive in full. We appreciate the rapidity with which this letter was released as there was at least one middle manager who was still insisting that the status quo was to be maintained a day after the letter was written.

It is just a pity that even though the illegality of the removal of the chairs was pointed out to management in August 2008, it took eight months for this to finally be accepted. It will take time for the damage this has caused to management credibility to be repaired.