The \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfree movement of labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (the other side of the coin to\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0‘free movement of capital’ (pardon the pun!))\u00c2\u00a0can sometimes be a double edged sword, as well as\u00c2\u00a0also being\u00c2\u00a0counterproductive; particularly to vital public sector services.<\/b><\/p>\n
Take the NHS for example. Because of the austerity measures being pursued by the Coalition government, thousands upon thousands of nursing and support\u00c2\u00a0jobs have been culled. I use the word culled<\/em> deliberately.<\/b><\/p>\n It is no surprise then, that winter, and the pressures upon the NHS that these cold months bring, has forced the\u00c2\u00a0employers to accept that it has a severe shortage of staff!<\/b><\/p>\n The remedy?\u00c2\u00a0 Poach nurses from overseas. Entice staff from other countries (EU and beyond) to plug the UK shortages. Bring staff from countries that themselves are struggling with basic health needs.<\/b><\/p>\n This Coalition government is turning the NHS clock back to the 1950s (not to celebrate multiculturalism, but rather to divide\u00c2\u00a0& rule, weaken trade unions and feed the private sector).<\/b><\/p>\n That the NHS couldn’t function without staff from around the world, or that those staff are excellent at what they do, or that lives are being saved because of them, is all true. The flip side though, is that the policy (not the people, but the policy) makes the NHS more vulnerable to privatisation and the private sector. <\/strong><\/p>\n Governments\u00c2\u00a0do not support the free\u00c2\u00a0movement of labour to make the UK socialist!<\/strong><\/p>\n However, a\u00c2\u00a0more bizarre illustration of the free movement of labour is happening in UK Ambulance Services.<\/b><\/p>\n The London Ambulance Service, for example, was told to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsave\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00c2\u00a350m+ over five years and shed some 900 posts.<\/b><\/p>\n Posts, that when taken out would have a crucial effect on the patient care given to Londoners.\u00c2\u00a0The Union\u00c2\u00a0acknowledges that the original\u00c2\u00a0targets contained within the Service’s\u00c2\u00a0Cost Improvement Plan (CIP) have now been revised, but that said, the LAS is still a victim of the Coalition’s public sector cuts programme.<\/b><\/p>\n It is now accepted by many,\u00c2\u00a0that the London Ambulance Service, along with most other Ambulance Services,\u00c2\u00a0is short of clinically trained staff.<\/b><\/p>\n The remedy?\u00c2\u00a0 Poach Paramedics from the Europe, New Zealand and Australia. It is difficult to believe that those countries have a surplus of Paramedics.<\/b><\/p>\n Of course, on a personal level we welcome all staff joining the London Ambulance Service. We wish them well, hope they have a good career with us, give Londoners the excellent care they deserve, and, join UNISON!<\/strong><\/p>\n But on a political level it can’t be right.<\/strong><\/p>\n How have we got to a situation where lots of young people in Britain want to train as Paramedics but there are multiple barriers put up in the way and masses of hoops to jump through? <\/b><\/p>\n Cuba, for example,\u00c2\u00a0trains young people to be doctors (young people from poor backgrounds). No barriers, no hoops. <\/b><\/p>\n They train them because they want doctors! They don’t set academic barriers so high that only a few get over them, leaving other good people behind feeling worthless.<\/b><\/p>\n We want Paramedics, so let’s train them! <\/b><\/p>\n How have we got to a situation where UK Ambulance Services have to advertise to recruit Paramedics from Europe, New Zealand and Australia? <\/b><\/p>\n How have we also\u00c2\u00a0got to a situation where UK trained Paramedics feel they have to go and work in places such as Abu Dhabi to feel valued,\u00c2\u00a0when the NHS is struggling? <\/b><\/p>\n Something is critically wrong here.<\/b><\/p>\n Someone said to me that to become a Paramedic these days is harder than becoming a Freemason! No comment.<\/b><\/p>\n We should not be importing Paramedics; we should be training our own first.<\/b><\/p>\n We should not be exporting Paramedics: All that knowledge and skill gone and lost, most probably forever. Services need to do something to keep them.<\/b><\/p>\n At a time that there has been a cull of staff within the NHS, Ambulance Services have set up their own Import\/Export business! <\/b><\/p>\n No wonder Private Ambulance companies are rubbing their hands with glee.<\/b><\/p>\n Our Ambulance Services and NHS are not perfect, far from it. The things that are wrong need to be put right. <\/b><\/p>\n We still need to find a better way of dealing with the ever increasing call rates so that ambulance staff are not constantly pushed from pillar to post and suffer ‘burn out’ at a younger and younger age. <\/b><\/p>\n Let’s also start by joining together to crush the stupidity of this idea that operational\u00c2\u00a0ambulance staff can work until they are 68! <\/b><\/p>\n It is stupid. It is dangerous. It is political. It is indefensible. <\/b><\/p>\n ____________________<\/p>\n Information on all issues can be found elsewhere on our website.<\/strong><\/p>\n ___________________<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are reading this, work for the London Ambulance Service or are eligible to join, and are not yet a member of UNISON Join Today!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>I Am Frontline You Are Frontline We Are All Frontline<\/strong><\/p>\n We are stronger together. <\/strong><\/p>\n Eric Roberts<\/strong><\/p>\n Branch Secretary.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfree movement of labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (the other side of the coin to\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0‘free movement of capital’ (pardon the pun!))\u00c2\u00a0can sometimes be a double edged sword, as well as\u00c2\u00a0also being\u00c2\u00a0counterproductive; particularly to vital public sector services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1431"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1444,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431\/revisions\/1444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}