12 trade unions call on Jeremy Hunt for emergency funds

The heads of 12 health unions have joined forces to make a plea to the Health Secretary to give the NHS an emergency funding boost.

In a joint letter, the heads of the unions make an urgent appeal to Jeremy Hunt to reverse Tory cuts and give the health service the money it needs.

They say this year’s ‘acute’ winter crisis is the result of years of cuts to services and wages, and damaging staff shortages.

Leaders tell Hunt the £1.6 billion extra in the Budget came ‘far too late’ and the NHS is kept going only through the dedication of its one million workers.

The letter says that NHS staff are working in an overstretched service, for declining wages and under incredibly difficult conditions.

Among those who signed the letter are TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis and Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey.

The unions’ letter comes after NHS Providers warned the service cannot deliver required levels of care with its current funding.

Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary, said: “This, and every other winter, lays bare the huge pressures staff are under. There aren’t enough of them, nor the resources to care for patients properly. The government must come up with the cash the NHS urgently needs and deserves.”

Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, said: “No one knows the NHS better than the people who work in it. And the message is clear – intolerable funding pressures are putting patients at risk and damaging services.

“When over a million NHS workers speak out, ministers should listen.”