Gareth Bromhall, GMB rep in NHS
Reeves’s recent spending review announcement has done little to change the situation on the ground in the NHS.
For GMB members in ambulance services and some health boards, a consultative ballot is being run on the 3.6% pay imposition; other unions are doing the same.
The mood from our members across contact centres and ambulance stations in Wales, as we understand from the dialogue we’ve had, is overwhelmingly to reject. The anger is palpable.
Starmer, Streeting and Reeves are presiding over the further degradation of our NHS and we know that what’s needed is: restorative pay for all staff, to make up for the loss we have had in the past 15 years, and real investment in infrastructure and systems under proper democratic workers’ control and management, to ensure we have an NHS fit for purpose.
4% ‘efficiency savings’ target is set by the government, this is more than four times the NHS’s historical rate of productivity growth (0.9%)
3-4% rising costs every year as a consequence of increasing needs, anything less results in a managed decline in services. A large proportion of the government’s 3% increase will go towards much-needed pay rises for staff, and comes with obligations for ‘reform’ ie privatisation.
Crumbling hospitals – the NHS faced a capital spending backlog of £13.8 billion by the time the Tories departed. After a brief boost for capital spending announced in the autumn, the spending review leaves the capital budget flatlining from 2026.
