"The unsocial hours issue of this dispute is central to all who work in the NHS"
Around four hundred people met at Manchester Cathedral last night to support junior doctors in their fight against the imposition of a new contract that is unfair and unsafe.
Dr Seima Iqbal, of Wellfield Medical Centre, called for the Government to "stop being spin doctors...
"I'm standing here today as a voice for my patients that I've looked after for ten years" she explained "Let's be very clear, the driving force behind the proposed changes is austerity, a desire to privatise the NHS; this is what it's all about."
People's Assembly patron and former Coronation Street actress, Julie Hesmondhalgh, chaired the rally, joined by comedian Rufus Hound who spoke alongside medical students and junior doctors, all of whom were keen to voice their opinions on the contracts.
Strike action looks set to go ahead after Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, saw his last minute 11 per cent pay offer rejected by doctors, who state they would still receive a significant pay cut and will still struggle through longer days for no extra pay, with unsociable hours increasing from 60 hours a week to 87hours (see previous Salford Star article for details click here).
"This fight is everybody's fight" said People's Assembly Against Austerity member Dr Rory Hicks "All healthcare workers, doctors, nurses, midwives, anybody. Anyone that's been affected by the NHS; anyone who knows someone that's been affected by the NHS. This is your fight. We must unite, to make sure we continue to deliver good safe healthcare to everybody."
His points were underlined in a speech by Senior Midwife Lecturer and Salford resident, Sarah Davies, who brought a message of support from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), underlining the crisis in the NHS...
"I've been a midwife for a long time and I have never seen conditions as stressful and difficult as they are now" she said "Our local maternity hospitals are struggling with acute staffing shortages and so much so that on several occasions recently they have had to close their doors to women in labour.
"The RCM calculates that in the NHS there is a shortage of over 2,600 midwives but no-one in Government will take responsibility" she added "Last year a House of Commons select committee reported that the Department of Health was unable to state who was actually responsible for deciding midwifery staffing levels. That shocking situation is a direct result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which has removed responsibility from the Secretary of State for Health, and left the NHS to be torn apart by privatisation. And there are just not enough staff to cope; heads of midwifery are saying that they feel powerless to act."
Sarah quoted a post on Facebook from a 22 year old midwife who works in a local NHS Trust, that was shared by thousands of other midwives... `We are literally being worked to the ground. I am watching amazing midwives leave a profession they love because the workload and stress are too high. I have shed too many tears over a career I love...'*
"What is Jeremy Hunt's response to this?" asked Sarah "Well, whilst refusing to address or even acknowledge the staffing crisis in midwifery, he sent out a tweet which said: `Shocking that 1,300 babies were killed or harmed during childbirth last year'... How dare he! I say to Jeremy Hunt: `You are the one harming patients by starving the NHS of funding...You are the one responsible for this crisis...'"
As she recounted last year's strike action by midwives the first in their 134 history and backed by an 84 per cent support vote she added: "I think the thing that drove midwives to act, more even than the issue of pay, was the utter contempt and disregard Hunt was showing for them and, of course, their fears for what the Tories are doing to the health service.
"Whenever any healthcare workers go on strike there is always the emotional blackmail used by the Government that we are putting patient's lives at risk" she explained "But patient's lives are being put at risk by the endless cuts to the NHS and public health budget, and I think now people understand this. Striking is always a last resort for midwives and healthcare workers, who come into the NHS because they have a vocation to care, not because they want high pay, or status...
"But we are seeing a surge of militancy among groups like the RCM and BMA who have traditionally been reluctant to go that far" she said "It's not a coincidence. It's a direct response to the Tory Government's attack on NHS workers and to their privatising and dismantling of the NHS. Midwives, along with the other unions, won the strike, forcing the Government to give way, while at the same time exposing Tory lies that the NHS is safe in their hands. So action can win.
"Study after study has shown that staffing levels are linked with safety" she insisted "So we need more midwives and we need to keep hold of the ones we have. It is essential to have decent pay and working conditions. As Cathy Warwick, head of the RCM, said a few days ago `Midwives working conditions are women's birthing conditions'. In real terms, pay for nurses and midwives has dropped 12% since 2012 and many midwives are wholly dependent on their unsocial hours payments to make ends meet.
"The unsocial hours issue of this dispute is central to all who work in the NHS" she added "If junior doctors lose this battle, there can be no doubt that the reward for unsocial hours will be removed from all NHS staff. The junior doctors are showing a brilliant lead, they are an inspiration. And of course the Trade Union anti-strike Bill is an attempt to make sure that in the future we won't be able to organise against further attacks on the NHS.
"Now is the time then for all of us to unite against the Bill, and all for all of us to fight to protect the NHS" Sarah concluded "I am proud to be part of a union that is saying 'Enough's enough' and that we stand in solidarity with the junior doctors who are fighting for the life of our NHS..."
Rally report and main photo by Emma Pearce
Read the full Facebook post from the local midwife...
"Yesterday a man came to me livid with frustration 'this is not good enough' he told me 'my daughter has been waiting hours to be seen' He went on to tell me 'it isn't you. It isn't the other midwives, the care has been impeccable but the situation just isn't good enough.'
I know. I agree. What he didn't know was that heartbreakingly this is a daily occurrence in my life as a midwife. What he didn't know was that actually yesterday was a rare Saturday off for me yet I had come into work so that my amazing colleagues could have a break from their 13 hour shift. A break they won't be paid for whether they take it or not, but that they physically need as human beings. I had come into the unit so that women like his daughter could be seen. So that our unit could be open to women who needed our skills as midwives, doctors, health care professionals. Women who were in labour. Women whose babies weren't moving much. Women who were concerned about their own wellbeing.
5 maternity units in the north west have been closed over the weekend. These women need our care. We are literally being worked to the ground. I am watching amazing midwives leave a profession they love because the workload and stress are too high. I have shed too many tears over a career I love. Missed too many meal breaks. Not physically been able to care for too many women the way I wanted to. Spent too many days off in work. Lost too much sleep over the stress I am under. Watched more of my colleagues than I could count (myself included) be signed off work with stress in the early years of their career. Watched too many good midwives leave careers they love.
This is not humane. Please let's end this. Protect your NHS. Your children's future. The NHS is run on good will and because of this we have been pushed too far. Let's change this..."
*See also previous Salford Star article: Tory Party Conference delegates forced to walk the NHS Wall of Noise Gauntlet - click here
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