The news today that nurses, paramedics and pharmacists will start to take on some of the jobs of junior doctors is no surprise. Down-skilling staff is part of the privatisation agenda.
Dr Clive Peedell says,
“NHA has been flagging this up consistently. It is not a short term plan to respond to shortage. It is part of the reshaping of the NHS. Same name, same logo, entirely different system.
It is all in the 5 Year Forward View and the Sustainability and Transformation Plans. Down- skilling is part of the privatisation agenda. Bringing in Physician Assistants and Clinical Pharmacists to fill vacancies in GP surgeries, using health care assistants to do ward and outpatient obs and monitoring, asking nurses to act up to cover clinical roles they are not paid for are what are called ‘new models of working’.
This is already happening, but with 70,000 vacancies across the country this is another impossible change. Where are the nursing staff supposed to come from? And who does their jobs when they are doing someone else’s?
Nurses – and HCAs – do need to be very skilled. But you have to see that not being paid for extra skills – which is what is happening – is a way of making the whole of the clinical staff cheaper. Pay is the NHS’ biggest item. They have held down pay across the board, but there’s a limit to that. So now we have over 1200 matron posts that have disappeared across the service, while lower grade staff take on greater responsibilities. Staff take pride in taking on additional skills and responsibilities, but it denies them career progression. Why make someone a matron if they are doing the job on a band 4? The employers get more, for less.
NHA is campaigning against the Sustainability and Transformation Plans – the biggest threat to our NHS – and you – since the Health & Social Care Act.”
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