Labour pledges to defend national pay deals for NHS staff

Andy Burnham told the Labour Party conference in Manchester that the new Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said “not a word” about efforts to introduce local or regional pay deals into the NHS since being appointed last month.

The issue is hugely controversial in Yorkshire, with the Treasury keen to close the gap between public and private sector pay in low-wage areas across the North – despite fears the policy could lead to years of pay freezes.

Former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley had publicly backed introducing local pay deals into the NHS – but Mr Burnham said his new counterpart has remained deathly quiet.

“It’s hard to be a shadow when you’re up against the Invisible Man,” he said.

“Hunt Jeremy – the search is on for the missing Health Secretary. A month in the job but not a word about thousands of nursing jobs lost. Not one word about crude rationing, older people left without essential treatment. Not a word about moves… to break national pay. Jeremy Hunt might be happy hiding behind trees while the front-line of the NHS takes a battering. But for as long as I do this job, I will support front-line staff and defend national pay in the NHS to the hilt.”

Earlier, the Labour Shadow Minister had unveiled a “dossier” detailing contracts for almost 400 community services – worth £250m – being signed from this week. More than a quarter were being pushed on health chiefs by new rules forcing them to select at least three of a sample of eight services to put out to tender, data obtained by freedom of information requests showed.