Seven years of austerity have seen a cut in South West Police numbers of over 15% since the Conservatives took office. There are now 2817 fewer people employed by the region’s five police forces than there were in 2010. Devon and Cornwall has been hit worst by the cut in South West police numbers, losing […]
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UNISON has condemned the transfer of 675 Gloucestershire NHS staff into a new company, scheduled to go ahead this Sunday. Porters, cleaners and sterile services workers will no longer be part of the NHS once they transfer into “Gloucestershire Managed Services”. Although hospital bosses have claimed staff will keep their NHS pay and benefits, the […]
1000 NHS staff from Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust will transfer to a new limited liability partnership this Sunday. Nurses, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists at GWH received letters on 9 March confirming their employer would change to “Wiltshire Health and Care LLP”. Affected staff work in wards and in the community across Wiltshire. The new organisation […]
The Swindon local elections on 3 May 2018 will be crucial to the future of residents and UNISON members. Labour group leader Jim Grant writes for UNISON Labour Link Labour only need to win four seats in order to become the majority party on the Council. We have done unprecedented levels of work so far […]
The Gloucestershire SubCo transfer date for around 700 NHS staff was confirmed as 1 April 2018 at a meeting of the Trust board last night. Commenting on the Board’s decision, UNISON organiser Michael Sweetman said: “Rushing the decision through on such short notice shows the Trust bosses are panicking. Staff were given just a […]
Unison, Unite the Union and the Royal College of Nursing are appalled that the Board of Gloucestershire Hospitals has chosen to proceed with its plan to transfer 750 of its lowest-paid staff outside the NHS. In doing so the Board of the Trust has ignored the views of the 900 staff who signed the petition […]
The Dorset councils merger will go ahead after the secretary of state for local government today authorised the change. Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch will form one authority covering the more built-up areas of the county. Dorset county council and the rest of the districts will merge into another. The Dorset councils merger will take place […]
Somerset County Council has overshot its budget for children’s services by more than any other council in the country, new figures have revealed. The £14.6 million overspend is £3.5 million more than the next-worst council, Sheffield. Despite the overspend, Somerset children’s services were still rated as “Requires Improvement” by Ofsted in January this year. Many […]
Two of Somerset’s campaigners for good services for people with learning disabilities won UNISON Get Active awards. Paul Kitto is UNISON LD convenor and works for Dimensions, the company the Learning Disability Service was outsourced to. He has led the Care not Cost campaign against cuts to services in the county. Paul won the “Eric […]
Trade unions will this Wednesday hold a rally to stop the Gloucestershire subco plan to transfer 750 NHS staff into a separate company. Sign up to attend the rally on Facebook Health campaigners will assemble outside a meeting of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS trust governors who are set to discuss the proposals at their meeting that […]
Student nurses can get an extra benefit from their UNISON membership
An NHS admin worker has won an award for her campaigning for better safety at work across the South West Caroline Emery, a health and safety rep for public service union UNISON, was presented with the award on Friday 26 January 2018 at the annual Get Active event. Caroline is a UNISON member in Torquay, […]
The city’s branch of public service union UNISON has won a regional award for its success in recruiting, training and organising members. Contrary to claims that people have stopped joining unions, membership of Plymouth in UNISON has grown for a number of years. Despite falling numbers of public service staff in the city, the branch […]
Moving 350 NHS staff into a Trust-owned private company has put Yeovil hospital in breach of licence. In a letter to NHS regulators, UNISON argues the Trust’s decisions must be investigated. Writing to NHS Improvement, UNISON set out Yeovil hospital’s failure to comply with the licencing requirement to have due regard for the NHS Constitution. […]
Campaigning by NHS staff and trade unions has seen plans for Southmead privatisation scrapped by the hospital board. NHS staff and trade unions have welcomed news from North Bristol Trust ditching plans to outsource hundreds of workers. Over 1800 NBT staff signed a petition coordinated by UNISON against the subsidiary company (subco). Bristol’s four Labour MPs […]
