Delivering a promise over pay

The junior doctor dispute over pay has taken up a lot of space in the news in recent months, yet they are not the only health professionals who are displeased with Government plans.

In 2014, paramedics were among the thousands of health professionals who took to the picket line in the first NHS strike over pay in 32 years. In a desperate effort to resolve the pay dispute of 2014/15, the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, agreed to a number of commitments to ambulance staff, including a review of the banding system to recognise the skill set of paramedics (Hunt, 2015). Roll on 2016 and there is still no suggestion that Mr Hunt will deliver on his promise. Understandably this has angered many ambulance staff.

As a result, the unions UNISON, Unite and GMB have announced they will be balloting their ambulance service members to see if they are willing to take industrial action over the Government's failure to keep its promise.