Letter to Steve Barclay MP requesting formal pay negotiations

Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP
Secretary of State
Department for Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0EU

17 November 2022

Dear Secretary of State,

Thank you for the opportunity to meet last Thursday. While we each agreed the meeting had been constructive and cordial in tone, it was not a meeting to find resolution concerning our trade dispute.

In the same manner, the Royal College of Nursing joined other unions in meeting you on Tuesday this week. Again, this rare engagement is welcome but I must not let my members nor the public confuse these meetings for serious discussions on the issues of NHS pay and patient safety.

You have again asked to meet in the coming days and for this third occasion I must be clearer in my expectation. There is only value in meeting if you wish to discuss - in formal, detailed negotiations - the issues that have caused our members to vote for strike action.

It is now more than a week since we announced our ballot outcome and your department has dedicated more time to publicly criticising our members’ expectations than finding common ground and a satisfactory conclusion. I also point out that this stands in contrast to the approach taken by governments and executives in other parts of the United Kingdom.

I waited for today’s Autumn Statement by the Chancellor before concluding that the government remains unprepared to give my members the support they need at work and at home. It is with regret that I write to say that unless our next meeting has the status of formal pay negotiations, beginning within the next 5 days, we will be announcing the dates and locations of our December strike action.

Yours sincerely,

Pat Cullen, General Secretary & Chief Executive