NHS Glasgow Clyde& CVS Branch

ANNUAL REPORT 2012/13

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NOTE OF THANKSYour branch Committee works hard to be as effective as possible on behalf of our members

BUT…we wouldn’t be able to do so without the professional skills, help, encouragement anddedication of UNISON full-time staff …

MATT McLAUGHLIN, Regional Organiser

JENNIFER McCAREY, Area Organiser

We would like to welcome Wendy Hudson,UNISON Local Organiser to our Branch andno doubt for next year we will get a photo!

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� undertook a consultative ballot andsuccessfully challenged a proposedchange to the Easter public holidays withinthe NHS

I am currently leading our team on a campaignto secure correct annual leave payments fornurses where they have been wrongly paid.

We have continued to improve ourcommunications to members via regularnewsletters to their homes, direct emails whilstat work and our on-site snore briefs. We havealso increased the number of site visits to talkdirect to our members to listen to their concernsand also undertake health & safety inspections.

Your Branch is at the centre of our union inScotland and leads the way with your employer.We have had many successes and we aim formore in 2013!

Branch Chair Report &Labour Link Officer Report –Marie Garrity

I am a Health Visitor in theWest End of Glasgow,Positions held In 2012Chairperson, LeadPartnership RepNorth/West Glasgow,Labour Link Officer,Glasgow City Councillor.

I have been chairpersonsince the merge in 2006.Thankfully, due to thehard work and commitment from all thestewards we have formed good workingrelationships and are functioning well as abranch that is committed to the shared valuesof UNISON.

We now have greater expertise within thebranch and members benefit from the shared

BranchSecretary –CathyMillerMillions of pounds havebeen cut from the NHS andwider public sector and thisyear is the 3rd year ofsaving £60million. At theend of this financial yearNHSGGC will have saved£180 million. This saving ispart of a bigger pot for NHSScotland that is intended tobe reinvested in services. However, to date wehave not seen much of this. All we have seen isCUTS!! Cuts in staffing levels, cuts in beds andnow a threat to cuts in services provided.Management call it redesign!! The morale of ourmembers is in their boots and the goodwill thatthey have shown previously is being stretchedto the absolute limit. We will continue tochallenge management at every level on behalfof our members and the pressure they are beingput under.

The branch has had a very busy year and in thelast 12 months we have:

� backed campaigns and disputes within theCommunity & Voluntary sector.

� secured pay uplifts for Acute Domesticsand Mental Health Nursing Assistants.

� successfully challenged employers toensure that staff on maternity leave gettheir public holidays.

� tackled short staffing across our NHS.� supported litigation by members at the

Beardmore Hotel.� campaigned for a fair deal on pensions,

pay, staffing and against admin cuts.� campaigned against NMC fee increases.� secured an agreement that NHS employers

will pay the PVG registration fee.

Together we work hardin UNISON for you

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knowledge and best practice of stewards. Ihave particularly enjoyed the continuity ofcarrying on this work in the past six years. I amproud to be part of a team that has beeninstrumental in dealing with many issuesaffecting our members.

As a Branch we have been actively involved inall issues affecting our membership e.g. Defendour Public Services, Defend Public ServicePensions, Opposing increase to NMCregistration fees and Protection of VulnerableGroups payment to name but a few. In additionwe are always striving to oppose PFI.

Our Branch will continue to highlight situationsand continue to campaign for the best Policies,procedures and outcomes to best serve ourmembership.

During this term in office I have attended I alsoattended The Nursing Sector Committee,Scottish Council and Scottish HealthCommittee. In May I was elected as a GlasgowCity Councillor giving me an opportunity toserve the people of Glasgow as well as Unisonmembers.

Apart from chairing the branch I continue torepresent members, dealing with individualgrievances and also manage a Health Visitingcase load. I particularly enjoy the diversity of myworkload.

LABOUR LINK – I have held Labour LinkOfficer position for the past 3 years and I amelected to the Labour Link Committee andLabour Link Forum. I attended the Labour LinkConference and The UK Labour PartyConference. This year I attended my first Forumin Cardiff and spoke on Cuts. Another first wasto attend the UK Labour Party conference 2012.I am elected to attend Scottish and UK LabourParty Conference 2013.

I attend The East CLP and in May of last year Iwas elected as Councillor for the Bailliestonward. I attend East CLP in my capacity asLabour Councillor and also as Unison’sRepresentative.

I continue to do my utmost to ensure the voiceof our membership is heard and work closelywith other members to protect your interests.This year I have encouraged another Steward to

share The Labour Link Post. This will enable meto share my experience and knowledge andensure the job sharer is afforded the opportunityto be more involved in Labour Link issues. Iwelcome the challenges ahead and I would liketo take this opportunity to thank you for yoursupport.

Assistant Branch Secretary –Frances Lyall, Glasgow AcuteConvenor

This year has been a toughyear for our admin &clerical members. With thedemand from the ScottishExecutive for a 20%reduction in administrativeservices, NHSGGC acutedirectorates undertook toreview their service and

reduce the admin staff, in some areas reducingthe whole time equivalents by half!! The roadhas been long and bumpy for our A&Cmembers as we have challenged managementto test out their proposals beforeimplementation and raised a grievance withinCHCP against an unfair process. At Scottish,Board and Directorate level UNISON’s positionhas been made clear in that we do not supportthis radical cut in admin staff especially withthe increasing demand on delivering servicesand the deluge of paperwork being given toSenior Charge Nurses to complete, takingaway their time to care for the patient. The workthat we started in 2012 in taking forward aproposal to retain admin and clerical willcontinue in 2013.

The Pensions dispute has been on going withdiscussions being held between the HealthMinister and the Chair of UNISON’s HealthCommittee. Following the one day of action onNovember 30th 2011 some of our memberstook part in selective industrial action in 2012. Iwould like to say a special thank you to ourmembers who took part in this action. Thebranch will continue to work with the ScottishHealth Committee to find a resolution to thisextra tax on our members.

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As Glasgow Acute Convenor I have held regularmeetings with our Acute Stewards in 2012 toensure they are aware and up to speed with allissues within Glasgow Acute sector and canadvise our members on site of the work yourbranch is undertaking to address yourconcerns. I have also ensured that they take theopportunity to sign up for our in-house trainingon Board policies such as OrganisationalChange and representing our members atBoard appeals.

The agenda of the Board for 2012 has been todesign NHSGGC for 2015 and beyond. As apartnership representative I was nominated tosit on the group that looks at Cancer Servicesfor the future and although this has beeninteresting to date, it has not yet determined theworkforce required to take this forward. This willbe a focus area for us in 2013.

My main role as Assistant Branch Secretary isto work with and support the Branch Secretaryto deliver a branch fit for purpose for ourmembers, leading on campaigns andchallenging the employer at every level, raisingissues and concerns and defending ourmembers’ best interests. A couple of theseissues were managements’ proposal to changeone of the public holidays at Easter and also theinconsistent and inaccurate payment ofenhancements whilst on annual/sick leave. Weensured our members voice was heard and sentmanagement packing on their Easter holidaysand after raising the issue on enhancedpayments continually our Branch Secretary hasnow taken them to task on ‘Pay as if at Work.’

One positive ‘policy’ for 2012 that I wasinvolved in was on ‘Attitudes and Behaviours.’This was as a result of the unacceptable highnumber of staff who completed the NHSGGCStaff Survey in 2010 and who said they were atsome point – Bullied, Harassed or Victimised –by their manager or colleague. Working withHuman Resources we have developed a coupleof programmes that have already been pilotedwithin the Acute sector and that will be rolledout in 2013 that will hopefully go some way toaddressing the unacceptable and on someoccasions the unintentional bad behaviour of aminority on too many of their colleagues!!

Clyde Divisional Report –Raymond O’Donaghue

Although 2012/13 hasbeen another challengingyear for the NHS inScotland, Unison has beenleading the fight to protectjobs and conditions withinNHS Greater Glasgow &Clyde.

The Clyde Division hasplayed its part in preserving or improving Termsand Conditions for staff, some examples of thisare as follows:

The agreement signed off to ensure the majorityof hospital based domestics are now paid atBand 2. Labs staff within Clyde have beensupported through a difficult period wheresome staff faced transfers and relocation.

Clyde Unison stewards continue to hold leadingroles on the Inverclyde CHCP Partnership forumand the Renfrewshire CHP Partnership Forumand are well represented in both the Acute andArea Partnership Forums, influencing majorstrategic decisions and policy development.

A large piece of work has been undertaken bystewards within Clyde in regards to unsocialhours payments to staff whilst on annual leave,this combined with on-going representations tothe Area Partnership Forum has led tomanagement now undertaking to ensure staffare being paid correctly.

Membership Services Officer– Stephen McLeanOver the past year as the Membership Officer Ihave worked closely with Recruitment &Development. It is important to promote thebenefits members will enjoy from special ratesoffered to UNISON members i.e. Insurance ofall sorts, finance and holiday offers. It is alsovery important to make members aware ofassistance available via UNISON WelfareOfficers.

It is therefore very important to continue to havea high profile around the sites as this gives

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members the opportunity to bring issuesdirectly to active stewards.

Women’s Officers – MargaretCochrane and Ray Sumner

This year as your Women’sOfficers both I and jobshare partner Ray Sumnerhave endeavoured tosupport our womenmembers throughout theservice. Many women havefound themselves to be themain earners in theirhouseholds due to theirpartners or other membersof their families being hitwith unemployment, risingcosts to run a home and ofcourse no pay rise for mostof us in the NHS.

However we have still gotour no redundancy policywhich is security ofemployment for all ourmembers if your service is

affected by organisational change and yourpost is no longer required you will beredeployed this is agreed in partnership withour employers by UNISON.

All aspects of our service have been hit withcuts and our members have been faced withdemands on them not only to do their own jobsbut to cover where vacancies have not beenfilled. Areas are running with skeleton staffnumbers particularly in nursing many havefound the stress of this leading to sicknessabsences, disciplinarians and H&S not beingadhered to. You need to inform Unison if youfind this happening to you.

Throughout this year we have been busymaking sure that women were afforded theirright to flexible working to meet their carersresponsibilities particularly when there was aservice redesign in their departments or theywere to be redeployed, travel and shift patternshad to be negotiated to accommodate ourmembers. Also for Women to have paid time off

without using Annual Leave for attending anyscreening/hospital appointments as it seemedapparent that this varied throughout the serviceinstead of being consistent and managers werenot adhering to duty of care with WomensHealth and wellbeing.

We attended UNISON conferences aboutWomen in Employment, Violence andAggression against Women in the Workplace,Domestic Violence, How Women face the cutsto Public Services and Equality in theWorkplace and time and time again we heardaccounts of the resilience of women whenfaced with so many challenges in their own livesbut still endeavoured to provide a qualityservice to their NHS employers .

This coming year there will be again manyissues for our Unison members and you can beassured Unison will be there to support andguide you. As your Womens Officers we arehere to help we may not have all the answersbut we will know where to get them!

Mental Health Report –ClareHaughey

Once again it has been avery busy year for thestewards who work inmental health. UNISONstewards are involved inworking in partnership withmanagement in all of themajor redesigns in mentalhealth both in inpatient

services and community services. These haveincluded review of the primary care mentalteams, the review of the Out of Hour’s MentalHealth Services and the move of the inpatientwards from Parkhead Hospital. By ensuring weare part of the process we have been ensuringour members concerns are heard andaddressed.

We have made a real difference to thepay packets of some of our members this year.After many months of negotiation nursingassistants who work in mental health settingswho were Band 2 are to be upgraded to Band 3.This will finally end the inequality of staff doing

Margaret Sumner(top) and Ray

Sumner

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the same job in the same ward being paiddifferent rates and put to an end to one of theanomalies agenda for change created.

We have negotiated with management an endto the routine roistering of Band 5 staff nursesto page carry for a hospital site and helped towrite guidance for when this can happen. Wehave also ensured that if Band 5 staff carry outthis role they will be paid at Band 6 rates for thatshift. In addition at Parkhead Hospital we haveworked with management to make sure thatstaff that have carried out this role will have theiracting up to Band 6 payment back-dated to payfor all of their page carrying shifts.

By recruiting new stewards this yearfrom across addictions services, communitymental health, inpatient services and admin inmental health we have been able to recruitand represent more members. But with thechallenges in the year ahead we need morestewards, so if you are interested in helping outyour colleagues when they need UNISON talkto us about how we can support you to becomea mental health steward.

Nursing Report – Una ProvanProfessional Nurse

I make no apologies forbasing this year’s report onthe increasing number ofreferrals to the Nursing andMidwifery Council. (NMC)The numbers continue toincrease year on year froma variety of sources.Normally UNISON

members referred by the employer are aware ofthe referral however members need to keep inmind that more referrals are coming fromexternal sources i.e. members of the public andother professionals. Recognising thesechanges, it is imperative that members contactUNISON as soon as it is made known to thempotential complaints or difficulties aroundclinical practise.

This enables UNISON to give the best possiblesupport and advice regarding their case.Complexity of cases vary and the NMC works

to a fairly tight schedule therefore the earlier weare involved the more time we can give inassisting our members to prepare a case.

The publication of the recent report from theMid Staffordshire trust shocked us all. We needto be vigilant and identify at the earliest possibleopportunity understaffing in the wards andcommunity settings, areas with a reduction inqualified staff and nurses whose practise fallsshort of expected standards with resulting poorcare.

Simultaneously we must work together toprotect patients by developing a safe no blameculture that encourages early identification ofissues so they can be addressed swiftly byincreasing staffing levels to allow safe care andsupportive training plans for individuals whorequire enhancement of knowledge and skills.

Imperative to this is the introduction of time toallow Registered Nurses to carry outProfessional Development. Every registerednurse should have the opportunity of regularevidenced based one to one clinicalsupervision, reflection and support from atrained Supervisor.

I know that many nurses perceive E-KSF as acumbersome duty that comes round all tooquickly. Nurses need to be more proactive inensuring E-KSF is current with a portfolio ofevidence to support practise. This is one of themost valuable pieces of work that if time istaken to reflect and gather evidence bothidentifies excellence in clinical care and alertsany deficiencies in practise.

Remember you arenot alone. If you haveany concernsUNISON is here tosupport you. Raiseconcerns in the firstinstance with yourline manager. If youare unhappy with theresponse refer to theDuty Of Care Guidefor ProfessionalNurses working

within Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The guidehas a Notice of unsafe/unacceptable conditions

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of practise form. This will assist in meeting yourresponsibility under the NMC Code: Standardsof Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nursesand the Midwives Rules and Standards.

On a final note the NMC on the 14th January2013 is now allowing Registrants to pleabargain. UNISON is watching the developmentclosely to see how it will affect members.

Community and VoluntarySector – Cheryl McCormick

This past year has beenpredominated by fundingcuts, largely form counciland government budgetsthat have been passed onto our members throughcuts to terms andconditions, hours andpay. This has had also

meant a deteriorating effect on the publicservices provided by the community andvoluntary sector.

This can be seen most starkly in the roll outof Personalisation in Glasgow. WhenPersonalisation was rolled out everyone wastold this would be a new way of delivering socialsupport services that would give service usersmore choice and control over the support theyreceive. However so far all we have seen isservice users getting their funding cut and nolonger being able to afford the funding theypreviously received let alone having anymeaningful choice about their service. While theterms and conditions of the people deliveringthe service have been cut has charitableorganisations have been pushed into a race tothe bottom.

The attack on social support services throughpersonalisation is however been a cut ourmembers have chosen to campaign and fightover and is a fight that is still on going and willcontinue into the year ahead. For our activistthis has meant taking on an increasing amountof work while facing on going battles withfacility time and recognition agreements.

There is some good news however to report forLiving Wage Campaign, as more voluntary

sector employers sign up to pay the LivingWage.

We also had our first stewards training day, andregionally our stewards also took part in the firstScottish Conference of Community Sectormembers as we become increasingly organisedas a sector.

Finally this past year has also seen a number ofstaff changes has we have welcomed in DebsDyer and Deborah MacKay as our new Area andRegional Organisers. We also say goodbye toSimon MacFarlane and thank him for his manyyears of service to members in the Communityand Voluntary sector and while we wish him wellin his new UNISON post we hope that he willstill be able to provide us with advice from timeto time with all his knowledge and experiencefrom his years of working with us in the CVS.

Welfare Report – ElizabethRankin and Eleanor HarveyUNISON welfare or as it isknown as “there for you”.Again in the last year thisbranch submitted the mostapplications in Scotland.Most of these applicationswere successful with theapplicants receiving onaverage between £800 and£1,000.

Last year saw the launch ofSchool Uniform grants. Toqualify for this you havenot to have savings ofmore than £800, not havereceived a grant fromUNISON in the previous sixmonths and household netincome (not counting childbenefit or Disability livingallowance) £18,000 peryear. The branch submitted 22 applications forthis.

UNISON welfare is a registered charity sotherefore the applicant criteria are set by therules of the charity. The person making the

Elizabeth Rankin(top) and Eleanor

Harvey

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application must not have savings of more than£3,000 and it must be something unexpected.

Unfortunately the family holiday scheme had tobe suspended because of lack of funds toprovide this service.

In September the Scottish Welfare Committeeheld a fundraising event at the Falkirk Wheel.Although poorly supported by UNISONmembers £6,166.79 was raised and this was forthe family holiday scheme.

Application forms can be downloaded from theUNISON web site or by phoning the branchoffice on 0141 331 4450. The completed formmust be returned to the branch office.

Another part of the welfare department is debtmanagement. Again there has been an increasein the uptake for this service. If you feel that youdo not wish to contact the branch for anyreason you can contact them direct. UnisonWelfare use a company called payplan you cancontact them direct on phone 0800 280 2816 orwww.payplan.com.

Education Team

We made significant progress in our quest todeliver first class training to all stewards and toprovide educational opportunities to ourmembers. We worked closely with UNISONArea Organiser Jennifer McCarey who hasshared her expertise in devising and promotingtraining programmes, where the training wasdelivered at our branch office and incorporateda variety of subjects, designed to empower ourstewards with the knowledge required torepresent all of our members in a diverseworkplace.

Our stewards are already, by far, the mostcompetently trained stewards working in theNHS and we commit to work together to devisefuture training programmes that will enhancethese skills significantly. Please remember if youwish to become a steward you get fully trainedand you have a ‘buddy’ to help and show youthe way – you are not alone.

Recruitment – Marc BoyleMembers are our strengthand in UNISON NHSGGCwe work hard to ensurethat recruitment plays animportant role ineverything that we do.Throughout 2012 I workedwith branch staff, full timestaff, stewards and other

branch officers to ensure that our union has apresence on key sites across NHSGGC.

Our hectic time is when the nursing studentsenrol at the various Universities, with thenumber of intakes reduced this year we made astaggering response to our recruitment drive abig thanks to all who took part.

Recruitment is not all about stalls inworkplaces, we’ve proven that members wantto hear from their union speak up on localissues, on line recruitment and recruitment fromour ‘Snore Brief’ and walk-abouts have ensuredthat recruitment for 2012 is keeping ournumbers up and Podiatrists in a job!

Retired Members – Ali SyedWe had a new team ofOfficers Elected at the April2012 Committee Meetingwith Peter McCann as Chair,Roberta Gair as Vice Chairand Sue Chalmers asSecretary. During the yearwe discussed a few Motionson Concessionary Travel,Cut backs in Services and Care of the Elderly.

I attended the National Retired Members’Conference held in Cardiff and submitted areport to the Branch highlighting some of theMotions debated at the Conference. Motion ofour opposition to the Government to changeRPI to CPI for indexation of Pensions andmotions regarding Elderly Abuse and Povertyfor older people were discussed.

I raised the issue of freezing the age-relatedallowances for those aged over 65 and theimpact it would have especially for the Scottish

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members due to extreme climate in Scotland.During the year in Scotland the issues relatingto Social Care and cuts in the LocalGovernment budgets were highlighted. Wecontinue to fight for the wellbeing of ourmembers and the impact of cuts imposed at theNational and Scottish governments.

Health & Safety –TommyMcWilliams

This is the 3rd year ofausterity cuts within theNHS Greater GlasgowClyde; these cuts arebeginning to bite hardthroughout the board andthis is manifesting itself inmany forms, no money fornew equipment, staff

reductions, sickness absence increasing, andredesigns.

The knock on effect is staff morale which is atan all-time low, there has been an increase instaff being off with stress due to continualdepartments being redesigned and staff wholeave not being replaced. Staff are being askedto take on extended roles to cover for thepeople who have left, in many a case on top ofan already heavy work load. This is causingstaff to become stressed and unwell due to thepressure being put on them.

Over the Xmas period the Branch NHS GlasgowClyde CVS led by the Branch Secretary CathyMiller was instrumental in forcing the board torelease jobs for nursing as wards wereoperating at dangerous staffing levels this is aproblem throughout the NHS.

It is important that Health & Safety Reps arevigilante and active in challenging managementaround the sickness absence processespecially

when dealing with staff with stress and notcoping through excessive workloads. The NHSGC & CVS branch will be running a series ofcampaigns throughout 2013/14 to ensure staffare working in a safe and secure environment.

LGBT – Ann Cameron-BurnsThis year as LGBT officer Ihave been focusing onthen equalities bill on civilmarriages and gave ourbranch response to theScottish governmentsupporting equal marriage.You may be aware that theNHS Board has a

campaign to stamp out homophobia. Ourcolleagues in Unite and ourselves have beensupporting this campaign by travelling aroundthe Board doing the roadshow. In conjunctionwith this I have represented our Branch at anational LGBT conference in Brighton.

As in previous years I will continue to raiseequality issues throughout our health boardarea and our membership. This year I havestepped down as LGBT officer and wish thenew elected Officer success in their future yearahead.

CHP/CHCP/Mental Health –Stevie FullartonAgain another busy andeventful year in 2012, fromGreenock to East ofGlasgow, from Milngavie tothe Leven Valley, the hugesize of the Area hascaused problems butUnison Stewards acrossthe Greater Glasgow andClyde Community / Primary / Mental Healthhave been at the fore front representing Unisonmembers. If not attending redesigns of service,then the Stewards representing individualmembers meetings.

Throughout the year we have been involved innegotiation of shaping Children Services,Specialist Mental Health Children Service,Health Visiting, and District Nursing acrossGlasgow and Clyde.

Also across CHP/CHCPs, Unison has beenleading discussion on the Admin Service

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through the Health Board Area, particularly inGlasgow.

Unison in 2012 took part in the ScottishGovernment consultation on reshaping Healthand Social Care Integration, and we await theGovernment proposals for the future ofCommunity Health and Social Services.

Within Mental Health Services across theHealth Board, Unison stewards have been veryactivate particularly in the Redesign ofCommunity Service and Care of ElderlyServices in the North East of Glasgow.

Lifelong Learning –Margaret Cardigan

Colleagues once again wehad a very busy yearrepresenting members inFacilities. As LifelongLearning Co-ordinator Ihave been busy trying toencourage members totake up the many learningopportunities that are

offered by both UNISON and our employer. Ihave encouraged 10 staff in the Laundry to takeup the 6 book challenge which is also beingdone at the Central Decontamination Unit inSpringburn this is to encourage individuals toget back into reading if they have not done so ina while, our library network is board wide and Iwould hope that the majority of our staff areusing this wonderful resource.

Watch out for posters in your area for otherways in which you can participate in learning.Unfortunately this year I did not manage tosecure funding from the STUC Learning Fundbut will try again for this coming year. As alwaysI am committed to representing our ancillarystaff at all levels and will work with this branchand its elected officers to continue to achieveresults.

Young Members –Stewart TuckwoodThings have continued tobe tough for many youngpeople across Scotlandover the last year. Youthunemployment hascontinued to rise and manyyoung people continue toface challenges in theworkplace, in housing andin education. These issues can be particularlybad for young people in Glasgow and Clydewhere recruitment freezes are continuing tofrustrate many young people seeking jobs withthe NHS. Cuts to community budgets and theimpact of personalisation has continued tomake working in community and voluntaryservices very difficult and it’s a credit to allthose who continue to deliver good care undersuch circumstances.

The 2012 National Conference in Bournemouthcondemned the moves by the government thathave created so many challenges for youngpeople and called on all branches to campaignto protect quality services, training andeducation for young people. I attended the2012 conference as our young member’srepresentative, although I did attempt to speakon several issues affecting young people I wasthwarted by time limits (which considering myhangover was probably for the best!).

It was exciting and interesting though to listento so many inspiring speakers from the Unionwho are campaigning for their local servicesand their rights and it was a great opportunity tomeet with other activists and bring ideas andskills back to our branch.

I have been working with the Unison’s YoungMember’s Committee over the year and havehelped develop a campaign to highlight theissues facing young people in society. Afterrunning a very successful survey of youngmembers we are in the process of producingcalendars to be distributed amongst branchesand workplaces to highlight the challenges oursurvey identified. So keep an eye out for themsoon!

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I will be attending the TUC National YouthConference in March as a delegate from ourYoung Member’s Committee and will be lookingto get involved in discussing campaigns topromote young people’s interests as well asbringing back good ideas for recruiting andretaining young people in our branch.

We recruited good numbers of student nursesthis year and as over the coming months I wantto work on encouraging as many as possible tobecome active in the union and remain with ourbranch for years to come. I was involved inrecruiting and have been keeping in touch withyoung members through mailing lists,something I intend to continue doing to keeppeople up to date with union activities andencourage them to be active. With the branch Iwould like to organise some events for youngpeople to meet, raise concerns and hopefullyjoin with our campaigns to improve conditions.

BAOT Co-ordinator –DianaMcCroneThis has been anotherbusy year with lots of re-design work going on forOccupational Therapystaff. These include

� Review of OTleadership inPartnerships, resultingin the recentappointment of Professional Lead GwenAgnew. The review remains on-going

� Re-design of OT and physiotherapyservices in Clyde Acute

� Re-design of the Community Children’s OTservice

� Re-design of the OT rotation in GlasgowAcute Division

� Establishment of a 7 day week OT servicein Medicine for the Elderly

Post Agenda for Change, members continue tohave issues about grading. Work is on-going toharmonise job descriptions across GG&C, butchanging roles and increasing workloadscontinue to cause concerns about grading andcapacity. Attendance Management and

Redeployment also bring regular requests foradvice and representation.

Unfortunately, the extra pressures of work areimpacting on BAOT stewards, and we are nowdown to only two in the whole of NHS GreaterGlasgow and Clyde. We particularly miss AnneMcDonald who retired this year, and CarrieMilligan who has resigned due to a change ofpost – both very experienced representatives.There cannot be many OT staff that have notnow been affected by a re-design and arefamiliar with the issues that can arise – it istherefore crucial that interested BAOT membersstep forward for training by UNISON as arepresentative. That is the only way you can relyon being represented by a BAOT representativewith local knowledge, at meetings withmanagers regarding changes in service, or atmeetings with Human Resources. Recruitmentmight just be a feature of the BAOTCo-ordinator’s use of time over the next year …

Vice Chair, FacilitiesConvenor – Rose Anderson,North Acute Lead StewardWhilst holding a largecaseload by representingmembers on sicknessabsence, disciplinaries andgrievances, as FacilitiesConvenor I haverepresented our membersat the Facilities PartnershipForum. This forumdiscusses the big ticket issues for staff who workwithin the Facilities Directorate and whilst it givesus the opportunity to challenge proposals thatmanagement bring to the table in regards toredesign of services it also allows us to raiseareas of concerns for our members health andsafety, service demands and lack of staff on theground to deliver a vital support service.

Using my knowledge as a Domestic TeamLeader I have been challenging management ontheir unrealistic targets on the Domesticscleaning schedule and ensuring that ourDomestics received appropriate training on newequipment and procedures that are being

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implemented. The insufficient numbers withinthe Portering Dept, where our members havebeen caught in the middle and constantly beingmoved from pillar to post depleting one serviceto bolster another, has been another concernthat I have and will continue to oppose.

In 2012 I was part of the UNISON team whoworked together to gain Band 2 for all remainingacute employed Domestics. This was a long,hard fight but we got there in the end. I am alsoa member of the Sterile ServicesCommunication Forum, which ensures ourmembers working within TSSU have a voiceand a platform to raise their concerns andideas. Work is also ongoing in this area to tryand achieve a career progression opportunitythrough Agenda for Change led by UNISON.

As Co-Lead of North Acute I have workedclosely over the past year with my colleague,Eleanor Harvey to try and ensure that ourmembers have a UNISON Steward that isappropriately trained to assist them in their timeof need. As Vice-Chair within the Branch thisallows me to work with the Education team todeliver a training agenda fit for purpose andensure that our Stewards within the North takefull advantage of the courses available to themand that they attend the All Stewards Days andAcute Sector meetings to receive up to dateinformation on campaigns and issues and theNHSGGC agenda that will impact directly onour members.

With further redesigns of service for 2013 this isgoing to be another busy year.

UNISONNurses

or UNISON NHS Glasgow and Clyde

Also at – www.nhsglasgowclydecvs.com

NHS Glasgow and Clyde arecutting another 600 jobsacross the board to try andbalance their budget. Thisyear’s cuts are the fifth in arow which have seenthousands of posts andmillions of pounds taken outof the service.

UNISON Assistant BranchSecretary, Frances Lyall (picturedright) said, “There is a lot of focuson cuts to nursing postsbecause that’s what grabs the headlines. The reality of these cuts isthat they are being felt across every staff group in every area of NHSGlasgow and Clyde. The result is that the staff who are left are madeto work harder with less support and assistance. No wondersickness rates are on the rise.”

The news comes hard on the heels of a Freedom of Information enquiryby UNISON which discovered that NHSGGC had paid out more than£1.5m in ‘termination’ payments to staff who could not be found suitableposts in the last 2 years.

UNISON believes that many of the people who have left have acceptedpayments which are LESS than their contractual entitlement.

Frances added, “It is bad enough that the Board are to all intents andpurposes making staff redundant, in spite of political assurancesthat there will be no redundancies in the NHS. It adds insult to injuryand it is appalling that the Board are taking advantage of staff’sdesire to get out and then using legal trickery to ensure that theydon’t get what they are due to be paid.”

UNISON BRIEFNEWS from UNISON NHS Glasgow & Clyde –Autumn 2012

Policy atodds withrealityAs cuts bite deeper anddeeper, NHSGGC continuesto save cash by centralisingservices across the Boardarea.

Whilst these changes mightdeliver ‘economies of scale’UNISON is concerned thatcontinued centralisationwithout thinking about thewider implications will lead tomajor unrest amongst staffand could, if they are notcareful, result in someservices reaching ‘criticalmass’.

The recent transfer ofservices from Dykebar toMansionhouse afterasbestos was found in wardsat Dykebar is a good exampleof previous cuts, leaving localsites with no contingency.

Senior Steward RaymondO’Donaghue said, “It mightseem like a great investmentto build a massive lab blockat the Southern General, butif we expect staff to travelfrom all over Glasgow andClyde to work there surelythere needs to be provisionto park or at least reasonablepublic transport links.”

Look out for a major opinionpiece in the next BranchNewsletter (out in November)

No redundancypolicy in tatters

ACUTEACUTE

UNISON BRIEFNEWS from UNISON NHS Glasgow & Clyde –Autumn 2012

Policy atodds withrealityAs cuts bite deeper anddeeper, NHSGGC continuesto save cash by centralisingservices across the Boardarea.

Whilst these changes mightdeliver ‘economies of scale’UNISON is concerned thatcontinued centralisationwithout thinking about thewider implications will leadto major unrest amongststaff and could, if they arenot careful, result in someservices reaching ‘criticalmass’.

Senior Steward RaymondO’Donaghue said, “It mightseem like a great investmentto build a massive lab blockat the Southern General, butif we expect staff to travelfrom all over Glasgow andClyde to work there surelythere needs to be provisionto park or at leastreasonable public transportlinks.”

Examples of one policybeing at odds with anotherseem all too commonplaceat the moment and this hasprompted UNISON to writeto the Chief Executive. Lookout for a major opinion piecein the next BranchNewsletter (out inNovember)

UNISON exposesintegration risks

UNISON NHS Glasgow Clyde andCVS Branch have spoken out aboutthe risks of integration. In a paperagreed by the Branch Committee thebranch highlights the failure of theGovernment paper to commit to staffgovernance as a significant weaknessin the proposals.

Branch Lead for CHCP and CHPs StephenFullerton (pictured left) said, “Does it makesense for NHS and Social Careprofessionals to work closer together – ofcourse it does. But the experience ofmany UNISON members in the NHS is notas positive as it could be. Any new

arrangements must take account of the need for professional andclinical governance which has stood health workers and theirpatients in good stead for many years.”

The paper also highlights the growing concern that ‘integration is a oneway street’ as far as health workers are concerned. Stevie said, “Thereis a lot of anger amongst health workers that integration is a oneway street, whilst health workers are constantly asked to help withhousing, debt and social care interactions. Social Work staff simplycan’t do clinical interactions because they are not trained to do so.That’s not the fault of Social Workers, far from it, but it is a majorfailing in the Government, Council and NHS employers’ strategy.”

The branch have agreed to continue to campaign to ensure that UNISONNHS members get a fair deal when it comes to integration.

Branch Secretary Cathy Miller said, “If integrated services are the wayof the future, then we must work within and outwith our union toensure that NHS members and Social Care/Work members get a fairdeal. Partnership working and strong staff and clinical governanceare critical to secure this.”

The full paper can be viewed on the branch website at:www.nhsglasgowclydecvs.com

Partnerships

Stronger together

UNISON

Annual General Meeting editionGet your nomination forms at

0141 331 4450

NHS Glasgow Clyde & CVS

The long running saga over employment

status at the Beardmore Hotel could end

up being settled at an Employment

Tribunal in the November.

UNISON has championed the cause of over a

dozen young people who we believe have been

given a raw deal by bosses at the Beardmore and

despite numerous attempts to find a local

solution it looks like litigation is the only way the

members can get justice.

For obvious reasons the union can’t go into too

much detail at the moment, but we are confident

that the matter will be settled in favour of UNISON

members … watch this space.

UNISON BRIEFNEWS from UNISON NHS Glasg

ow & Clyde –Autumn 2012

UNISON goes to courtfor NHS conditions!

Golden Jubile

e

and Beardm

ore

Anger at NMC price hikeUNISON has written a for

mal response to the NMC

after it announced plans to increase the cost of

registration to £120. The union survey received

more than 6000 responses and of that number 98%

said that they would not support a rise in

registration fees.

In a hard hitting response the union pointed out tha

t the NMC raises more than £53m per year and is no

t

subjected to ‘efficiency savings’ like public agencies

.

UNISON NHS Glasgow Clyde and CVS Branch Pro

fessional Officer for Nurses, Una Provan said, “The

proposed increase in fees has angered nurses and midwives and rightly so. Many of them have had

no pay rise for 2 years and they are finding it tough. To suggest that the NMC can pick their pockets

is grossly unfair.”

http://nhsglasgowclydecvs.com/ http://nhsglasgow

clydecvs.com/ http://nhsglasgowclydecvs.com/

14

Golden Jubilee National Hospital and The Beardmore Hotel2012 has been the year we managed to successfully conclude a number of ongoing grievanceson behalf of our members. We have continued to increase the number of our local reps in thehospital and the hotel and the employees in membership. In partnership we have continued torepresent our member’s views in all projects whether that be redesigning services or changinghours of work.

Golden Jubilee National Hospital

“We really want to thank you for all you have done for us. We really couldn’t have done it withoutall your help and support at every step” UNISON members in GJNH Theatres

UNISON Theatres grievance was finally concluded and on behalf of our members and all staffin Theatres UNISON won the right to pay protection on the flexibility allowance which localmanagement had imposed, a win which was backdated to the date of original withdrawal.

Your union used all the resources at our disposal, a determined membership, a local stewardwith the courage to lead even when other staff side organisations gave up the fight, full timeofficer support to provide the technical knowledge and strategic plan and a place at the table atScottish Terms and Condition Committee. It was a winning formula and will continue to serveour members well.

Representing members in on call negotiations we reached agreement that the reference periodfor protection be extended for 3 month

We have represented our member’s ongoing issues in Booking office, medical records, securityand reception.

Negotiated successful redeployment for members who have required their work packages to beadjusted because of ill health.

Not to mention representing more staff in disciplinary and grievance than any other staff sideorganisation.

The Beardmore Hotel

“Thank you for your time, support, encouragement and helpand for believing in us” UNISON members who had casualworkers cases in the Beardmore Hotel.

In 2012 our fight for pay equality and better partnershipworking brought five new jobs in the Beardmore Hotel. Asettlement reached at tribunal on behalf of casual workersbrought significant financial rewards for our members and anegotiating timescale to resolve our outstanding issuesaround non NHS pay.

We intervened successfully to improve health and safety on nightshift and in the health club.Next year will focus on UNISON members being protection at work in risk assessments andtraining and the need to increase those employed on NHS terms and conditions rather thancasual or agency contracts and better notice of rota for staff.

All to all the UNISON stewards in GJNH who have worked incredibly hard for our members thisyear, we all owe them our thanks.

15

UNISON NHS Glasgow Clyde& CVS Branch

� Successfully challenged employers to ensure that staff on maternity leave gettheir public holidays.

� Supported litigation by members at the Beardmore Hotel.

� Secured an agreement that NHS employers will pay the PVG registration fee.

� Secured pay uplifts for NHS Acute Domestics and Mental Health NursingAssistants.

� Campaigned against NMC fee increases.

� Campaigned for a fair deal on pensions, pay, staffing and against admin cuts.

� Undertook a consultative ballot and successfully challenged a proposed changeto the Easter public holidays within the NHS.

� Tackled short staffing across our NHS.

Currently leading the campaign – Pay as if at work.

Above were the main collective campaigns by theBranch, NMC cases are on the increase and our LeadNursing steward and full time officer should becongratulated on their achievements, each steward hastheir own successes, along with our Leads, Convenorsand Welfare Officers.

Victories l Successes l Results l Triumphs l Wins

NHS Glasgow Clyde& CVS Branch

4th Floor, 131 West Nile Street, Glasgow G1 2RXTel: 0141 331 4450 Fax: 0141 331 4453www.unisonglasgowclyde.comNHSBranch@unisonglasgowclyde.com

NHS Glasgow Clyde& CVS Branch