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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2016 Inside: NHS Pay – Unions call for inflation-linked rise in pay review body submission (page 3) No to Austerity, Yes to Funding the NHS – CSP joins rally and march in Birmingham (page 4) CSP training – What’s in it for me? See what stewards say (page 5) Workplace Wins – What stewards have been doing for members and what they learned (page 7) Wear Red Day – Join in efforts to fight racism! (page 8)
TACKLING PHYSIOTHERAPY WORKLOADS–GET READY!
In the New Year the CSP will be kicking off its Pinpoint the Pressure campaign to tackled workplace stress and workloads. Joint training for stewards and safety reps has already begun and by early December will been held in the English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you have not already attended or signed up for it by the time you read this, please do. Details of dates and how to confirm are overleaf.
In a letter to all reps, CSP Director Claire Sullivan says the training topic of stress in the workplace is ‘something that affects everyone. It is without doubt the biggest health and safety issue facing us at this time, as CSP members work harder than ever to continue to deliver excellent services to patients under increasing pressure. ‘The idea for the campaign originates from members, having arisen from a debate at Annual Reps' Conference, and the regional training day will introduce the campaign to you as our CSP reps, so that you in turn can help members to identify high stress levels and take steps to address them. While recognising that reps themselves are ‘working under pressure’ and also ‘have the additional role of being a CSP rep’ Claire argues that training ‘will pay great dividends a little further down the line’ and is urging reps to make ‘every effort to attend. Find out more about the issues at www.csp.org.uk/pressure
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‘PINPOINT THE PRESSURE’ TRAINING FOR STEWARDS AND SAFETY REPS ON STRESS AND WORKLOADS We would (ideally) like both stewards and safety reps from every trust/board to attend the same training days together. Please email or ring contact person detailed as soon as possible so that we know whether you are able to attend or not. If you are having difficulty getting permission to attend, please don’t hesitate to contact your Senior Negotiating Officer who will be able to assist. We’ve got some great new resources that will be available on the day – an impressive stress survey pack, and leaflets and coffee mats to help you share the campaign messages in your workplaces.
Region/Country Date Where Who to contact to confirm attendance
Cheshire and Mersey November 24 Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool
East of England December 2 Cambridge Development Centre
East Midlands November 15 Pleasley Landmark, near Mansfield
London November 17 November 23
CSP HQ [email protected]
North West November 17 Leyland Hotel, near Preston
Northern Ireland November 8 TBC [email protected]
Scotland November 2 & November 3
Glasgow Edinburgh
South Central November 22 CSP HQ [email protected]
South East Coast November 30 CSP HQ [email protected]
South West (North) October 19 South Bristol Community Hospital
South West (South) November 16 Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford
Wales November 9 & December 13
Unite House, Cardiff
West Midlands November 2 Birmingham Women’s Hospital
Shona Cain [email protected] or Becca Lewis [email protected]
Yorkshire November 10 Hull Shane Walsh
>>> Record levels of workplace stress put staff and patients at risk - Read the CSP reaction to a new TUC study showing that stress is the top health and safety concern in UK workplaces
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NHS UNIONS CALL FOR INFLATION-LINKED RISE
Health unions have jointly called for a rise next April of 1.9% - the inflation rate as measured by the retail price index in July.
Download CSP and Staff Side evidence
www.csp.org.uk/pay
In ‘staff side’ evidence to the NHS pay review body for the 2017/18 pay round, unions will be seeking a restructure of bands 1-3 to ensure the NHS delivers on the Living Wage. Furthermore, with pay levels now different in each country, we make the case for a return to UK wide pay scales, pegged at higher Scottish NHS pay levels. In response to comments in the PRB report for 2016, the staff side has also developed its own workplace strategy covering a number of key workforce issues, including ensuring the Agenda for Change pay system remains fair, simpler to explain and understand, maintenance of the Job Evaluation Scheme to deliver equal pay for work of equal value, safe and effective staffing, effective management of change, equality and diversity and a healthy and safe workplace.
Says Assistant Director, Pete Finch: ‘If NHS salaries had kept pace with inflation and not been held down by the restrictive Government approach to public sector pay these past 6 years, the workforce would have been £4.3 billion better off.
‘With some in our society facing no apparent limits on their income – bankers’ bonuses, for example, totalled £14 billion in the past year – physiotherapy staff would be right to feel angry about the falling real value of their pay packets. ‘Every year, the CSP and other health unions submit evidence to the NHS pay review body to highlight how unfair this is - and how short-sighted. This year again, we argue that it is damaging staff morale and motivation, and exacerbating the recruitment and retention problems in an already badly overstretched NHS, with clear risks for patient care.
‘Health unions are urging a return to real independence for the PRB, which since 2010 has had to work within a framework of Government pay freezes and pay caps, rather than make recommendations based on its expert knowledge and the best available evidence.’
In separate written PRB evidence the CSP points to new survey data that shows physiotherapy staff are leaving the NHS because of dissatisfaction with workloads, staffing shortages, high stress levels and the care they feel able to provide to patients. Research among physiotherapy managers confirms continuing recruitment and retention problems. The CSP will continue its influencing work on pay and working conditions in the NHS in oral evidence to the PRB in early December.
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CSP MARCH FOR THE NHS, AGAINST AUSTERITY
The CSP joined thousands in the streets of Birmingham Sunday October 2 to protest against
austerity policies and call for investment in the NHS and other public services.
Photo: CSP members and staff gather ahead of the march.
CSP members from the Midlands and the North marched alongside CSP council chair Catherine Pope,
director of employment relations and union services Claire Sullivan and industrial relations committee
chair Jill Taylor. Stewards, including members of the National Group of Regional Stewards, were
among the attendees.
'I attended because the NHS is badly overstretched and underfunded - our patients and NHS staff deserve better,’ said Ms Taylor. ‘I was proud to march with my colleagues and friends. And it was nice to see members and staff attend the march. It was also great to meet and develop friendships with other trade unionists, and show solidarity.'
The marchers had travelled from all over the UK. The Birmingham Mail reported: 'There was a party
atmosphere among the crowd with drummers, steel bands and klaxons sounding out. Giant balloons
filled the sky including an elaborate inflated pair of scissors to represent the cuts.
The rally, organised by the Midlands TUC, snaked its way from Victoria Square along New Street to
Millennium Point. A range of trade unions were represented - with Unite's steelworkers from Port Talbot
leading the parade.
West Midlands Unison regional secretary Ravi Subramanian said austerity policies had 'failed our
country, failed our economy and failed our people' and called on the government to end public
spending cuts.
>>> See photos from the event on Flickr:
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CSP STEWARDS TRAINING – WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? CSP training for stewards is very important for you to be effective in your role. But don’t take our word for it – see what stewards say.
Stewards at a ‘follow on’ course ‘The Changing Workplace and Stewards’ Role’, Quorn, September
‘I left the course more confident than when I came in dealing with the upcoming organizational change in my trust.’ ‘I had no experience of the subject matters before the course, and now feel I could perform the tasks.’ ‘I enjoyed the role play and preparation for meetings with management, as well as general discussion and problem solving with other stewards.’ ‘The role play used during the meetings with management section were really useful and made me think about the importance of preparation. I feel more informed and better prepared following the training and I know who to turn to when situations arise.’ ‘Group work was an excellent way to learn.’ ‘Good course - gave me everything I needed.’ ‘Excellent course, the tutors were very good and including everyone, listening to views and encouraged debate. Accommodation and food were all excellent.’ ‘I understood how best to interact with CSP members, managers and at Trust/board level - establishing the differences between the three groups and how to be most effective in the steward role.’
The above comments were extracted form feedback forms from induction and follow on courses held in June. Find out more on the CSP website about why it is important for CSP stewards to attend training and see what managers say about it.
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WORKPLACE WINS
Here’s a round-up of some positive workplace stories recently reported by CSP stewards. Learn what your colleagues have done, what they learned, and share the positive stories with members.
Downbanding and jobs
Management proposed a restructure across five clinical areas that included the removal all clinical Band 7 posts from stroke, neuro-rehabilitation and intensive care. Over 20 physios were placed at risk and all Band 7s lost would have been replaced by Band 6s. Stewards and members worked tirelessly to defend their services: this included benchmarking exercises, reference to research evidence and national guidelines, and expressions of concern from a wide range of consultants and MDT colleagues. Staff provided alternatives ways of reducing cost without impacting on quality, safety or existing staff. Management accepted these in their entirety. Learning? ‘Members: The main lesson I have told staff is that they need to be routinely measuring and demonstrating quality, safety and cost effectiveness, because services can and will be reviewed in the future. Also, they though it was a done deal and management wouldn't listen: however, the proposals were so ill-informed and the response so compelling and comprehensive that they had no other reasonable choice but to follow all our suggestions.’ The advice the steward prepared for the members has now become integrated into the CSP advice on Organisational Change / Downbanding and so the process has resulted in an improvement in the resources available to all CSP Stewards. ‘Feedback from members was that this guidance really helped them to put together an all-encompassing response.’ (Stockport NHS FT) A member was upbanded thanks to the support of a steward in submitting a job re-evaluation and securing manager backing for it. Learning? Upbanding is possible to achieve even under today's financial constraints in the NHS. (Barnsley Foundation Trust)
Work-life balance
In a number of trusts in the North West and West Midlands local stewards pursued changes to local policies to ensure accrual of public holidays while on maternity leave, prior to a national agreement being reached over the summer. They used CSP guidance, raised with HR managers, finance directors and staff side. In one case stewards threatened a grievance. In another trust the accrual was backdated for the whole of one member’s maternity leave, rather than just from July, when the changes stipulating all NHS women employees will now be entitled to the public holidays that occurred while they were on maternity leave when they go back to work. That gave the member almost an extra 5 days. Says the steward responsible for securing this: ‘Result – a very happy member!’ One member was granted paternity leave that had originally been refused and instead asked to use annual leave for the time off. The steward checked the policy and presented it to management and the member was given unpaid paternity leave and statutory paternity pay (A trust in East of England) A special leave policy that dictated a two-hour cap for personal appointments has been changed to allow for reasonable adjustment in certain cases. The steward challenged the policy arguing there had to be exceptions to this rule, for example if a member of staff had an appointment that was located at a considerable distance from the workbase, of if they attended in order to investigate a disability or a potentially life threatening / disabling illness. All members of the steward’s trust potentially benefit from these changes. What did the steward learn? ‘To challenge policies that are not fair.’ (Cumbria Partnership)
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7 day / extended services / on-call pay
Improved consultation for 7 day working; the manager originally sought to include it in with the departmental restructure but the steward achieved a separate consultation period (George Eliot Hospital) A regime of compulsory overtime for staff providing weekend respiratory physiotherapy was overturned after the illegality of compulsory overtime was highlighted and a team effort involving the respiratory team leaders, managers and staff led to a solution. The service - provided via a rota of respiratory trained on-call/weekend physio staff - was restructured including through the hiring of 2 further permanent staff covering half the weekend work, with the other half staffed by a voluntary rota. Learning? Managers were simply unaware that compulsory overtime was not legal and once they were made aware - HR endorsed the steward's finding - they were very keen to resolve the issue and open to ideas and joint working with unions and staff. (Bradford NHS FT) Stewards secured payment of on call compensatory rest of a flat rate uplift of 11% with telephone calls
and travel covered. (University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust)
Patient services and staffing
A steward stopped a trust nursing budget being used to recruit physio and thereby leading to physio staff doing nursing roles. The matter, which was brought to the CSP's Annual Representative Conference, was progressed by working with the CSP organiser and securing staff side support. The result was clear job descriptions for new recruits, clear purpose of how the nursing budget will be used and good union rep - management engagement. Learning? Says the steward: ‘How to turn something which could have caused great concern into, hopefully, a positive example of physio in the workplace.’ (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS). A steward restored an inpatient gym which had been used to extend the discharge lounge. The steward held meetings with staff, collected evidence of the productive use of the gym and alternative proposals, and met with the member of management who implemented the change (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust). Reduced casework needs of staff. (Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust).
Disciplinary
A member was assisted with a disciplinary hearing that saw them facing gross misconduct charges, securing a final written warning instead of instant dismissal. Learning? Preparing for a disciplinary case; supporting the member through a difficult and stressful time; renegotiation skills; understanding the trust policy; communications and engagement skills. Following the resolution to this issue the steward challenged a policy that stated that the disciplinary pack/documents would only be released 5 days before the hearing. This has now been changed to a minimum of 10 days (Northumbria Healthcare NHS FT).
Collective contract imposition
Moves to impose changes to contracts on physio staff to include extended hours working patterns were rebuffed after the intervention of the steward, supported by the senior negotiating officer. The 25 odd CSP members, who had been TUPE'd to a social enterprise company from an NHS trust in October 2015, were engaged in a collective response that rejected the imposition of the contract changes and proposed two alternatives. Meetings with managers and members were held. The upshot is that currently the changes have not been agreed. Lessons? We did not have to agree within timeframe managers had originally suggested; it is good to negotiate as a collective group of members. (Locala in Kirklees, Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust)
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Health, safety and wellbeing
A safety rep secured a larger changing room after it was found there were insufficient changing facilities for females. The room was very small, and there were not enough lockers, so staff bags were all on the floor, while there was no seating. A joint inspection was conducted, together with team leader, who agreed the room was inappropriate and identified another much larger room that could also be transformed into a changing room. Learning? Joint inspections work! (Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust). 80-odd members have benefitted from a new, less draconian and more supportive sickness absence policy. The policy change was achieved by the steward working with staff side colleagues and HR. Learning? ‘Closely working with other unions and negotiating with HR with good working relations allowed eventually for a mutually agreed policy.’ (Norfolk and Norwich Hospital).
A new, improved sickness policy - now badged as the Promoting Staff Health, Wellbeing and Attendance policy – is being met positively by staff (Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust).
Competence
A steward supported a member through retraining related to competency issues. The manager was also supported and was very helpful. The member is now fully competent. Learning? ‘Things are more likely to work out well when all parties have a commitment to making them work.’ (An NHS trust in the North West)
Car parking
Stewards knocked back plans to introduce for community staff, a proposal that would have negatively impacted those who needed to use their cars. Staff side unions opposed the proposals and staff were consulted. Learning: You can challenge decisions; get involved early; empower members to acknowledge their responsibilities. (A West Midlands NHS trust)
Training
Some 4-6 part-time physio staff now have access to attend in service training thanks to the intervention of the steward. She checked the policies of the existing and previous employer (staff have been transferred from the NHS) which stated that part time staff could attend pro-rata and this was agreed. Learning? ‘Don't take anything on face value - check the policies!’ (Connect Health)
Organising
An existing steward recruited a new steward, so that each of our three sites have a representative (Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust). A good working partnership was achieved with the three CSP stewards and health and safety rep (Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust).
Leadership
A CSP safety is to be considered for a secondment to the trust's Health and Wellbeing team to promote evidence based self-management, and signpost frontline staff to available resources. (Birmingham Community Health)
These ‘workplace wins’ were reported at training days over the summer. Don’t wait until the next one - tell us about yours now, by completing the online pro-forma Nothing identifying you or your members goes into the public domain without your prior approval.
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NEWS IN BRIEF
CSP @ the TUC: The CSP raised the profile of the CSP and physiotherapy and called more funding for the NHS at the annual TUC Congress conference in Brighton in September. Catch up on the CSP website
Brexit: In the wake of the vote in the EU Referendum in the June, the CSP joined forces with 29 (and counting) health and social care organisations in the Cavendish Coalition to address concerns of the impact of the loss of the 144,000 of health and social care staff who are EU nationals. Read about it in a recent blog by CSP director Claire Sullivan. Trades Councils: The CSP recently affiliated to the Worcester trades council after working successfully with other local trade unions to protect NHS services, including physiotherapy services. Check out a new TUC video explaining trades councils and how they make a difference to workers and their communities.
State Pension: The TUC has warned the independent review of the State Pension age, which has published an interim report in October, that any further rise to the state pension age would be unfair and unhelpful to the challenges ahead. The UK is already on track to have the highest retirement age of developed (OECD) countries by 2060. Find out more at the TUC website
NEW RESOURCES New Stewards Handbook: A new Stewards’ Handbook is to be published in November 2016, with updated guidance, tips and ideas on a range of matters core to your role. It is already available on Stewards National icsp network and hard copies will be issued to new stewards as from that date. Professional boundaries advice: Professional boundaries are an important consideration in the relationship between CSP members and their patients. However, they can sometimes be difficult to maintain and CSP members may find themselves having to deal with a complaint. A new briefing advises members on how to maintain professional boundaries. Please share with members. New tool for reps: The TUC has launched an App as an easy-to-use tool for trade union reps. The Unionreps app, linked to the established TUC-hosted bulletin board website, allows you can network with stewards and safety reps, ask for advice, share intelligence and support them in their campaigns and. Find out more about it – and try it out. Let us know how you got on by emailing Tom Gill [email protected] ERUS publications: Find all the CSP employment-related publications at www.csp.org.uk/workplace
EVENTS CSP Diversity Day: The three CSP diversity groups Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), Disabled members and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) are hosting a joint event on 16 November. The topic is "Multiple Identities" and Phyll Opoku -Gyimah, co-founder and director of UK Black Pride, is among the panel members. Find out more/ register http://tinyurl.com/h96mhos Pregnancy discrimination: Attend the launch of a new campaign to tackle pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination. Launching the CSP-backed Action Plan on Maternity Rights, the event on October 29 in London will be child friendly with activities for kids and space to park buggies, so do feel free to bring your own! Booking and more info: http://tinyurl.com/hfyrhvf TUC Womens’ Conference – The CSP is looking for delegates for the annual conference for women trade unionists, to be held 8-10. If you’d like to find out more, contact Kate Moran [email protected]
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WILL YOU BE WEARING RED ON FRIDAY OCTOBER 21?
More information: http://www.srtrc.org/get-
involved/WearRedDay
Pictured: New Reps at a CSP induction course in October 'Show Racism the Red Card’
October 21 is a chance for people across the country to uniting against racism for one day, and help raise much needed funds for this educational work.
It is organised by the Show Racism the Red Card, the campaign that uses top footballers to educate against racism.
We encourage CSP members to participate by taking the following actions:
Wear an item of red clothing (red tie, red socks, or something more radical!)
Join activity in your workplace, with colleagues in the CSP and other unions
Promote Wear Red Day via your networks on social media (eg including the twitter handle @thecsp and hashtag #WRD16)
Participate in/promote the campaign amongst friends, family and in your communities.
Donate £1
We hope as many of you as possible will join in, so the CSP can say No to Racism big and loud (and Red!) on Friday October 21.
