Solve NHS crisis by giving care workers national pay and standards, says union boss

Christina McAnea of ​​1.4 million Unison members says a fully integrated national care service in the NHS is the only way to prevent 13,000 fit patients to leave the hospital to stay put and withhold new admissions because they have nowhere to go

"There are countless horror stories caused by the lack of personnel." (

Image: Getty Images

The leader of Britain's biggest union is pushing for national pay and work standards to end the crisis in care homes.

Christina McAnea, a member of 1.4 million Unison, says a national care service fully integrated into the NHS is the only way to prevent 13,000 patients fit to leave hospital from staying put and block new admissions because they have nowhere to go.

This means that more than one in ten of the 100,000 acute and general hospital beds in England are occupied by people who do not need to be there.

This leads to overcrowding and long waits in the emergency room, delays in ambulance transfers and deteriorating ambulance response times.

But because the welfare system is in the hands of multiple providers, job requirements and qualifications vary, leading to 165,000 unfilled vacancies

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Ms McAnea said: 'Staff shortages are undermining the quality of care provided to all those who depend on assistance.

"There are countless horror stories caused by understaffing."

Nurse aide Sian Stockham, 68, from Abergavenny, works at a respite rehabilitation center caring for people well enough to leave hospital but not fit enough to go home .

Low pay is one reason for staff shortages, says Sian Stockham (

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Getty Images)

She said, "People think healing is about wiping your buttocks. I'm always happy to do it, but the work is so much more. "Last night I sat down with a patient who was in the process of to die to make sure he died with dignity. I had a guy with cerebral palsy who couldn't turn on the stove switch. Now he can prepare his own meals.

“The care situation is a nightmare. We have people ready to be sent home. But there are no medical staff to take care of them there. home.

"It's a vicious circle. Ambulances take people to hospitals where there are no beds. And that's because people on duty can't be sent back to nursing homes There are no packages for them.

"Low salaries are a reason for staff...