Gray making ‘little progress’ on reducing NHS staff hours, union warns

Union leaders say “little progress” has been made on a Government commitment to cut working hours for NHS staff.

Bosses at Unison claim Health Secretary Neil Gray “seems unwilling” to honour the agreement, as they warned him failure to deliver on the issue will be seen as a breach of trust.

The union is concerned Mr Gray could go back on the commitment to gradually reduce the NHS working week from 37.5 hours to 36 hours – citing this as a key factor in agreeing a previous pay deal.

With the health service under increasing pressure, Unison – which represents more than 60,000 NHS staff in Scotland – claims reducing the working week will help recruit, retain and reward workers.

Unison Scotland co-lead for health Matt McLaughlin warned in a letter to the Health Secretary: “Any failure on your part to implement the reduced working week in a manner that is acceptable to Unison will be seen as a significant breach of trust.

“Put simply, if our members feel that you have sold them short on the reduced working week, they are highly unlikely to believe any promises you and your Government might make around pay reform and/or NHS reform in the coming months.”

Describing the matter as a “watershed moment” in the union’s relationship with the Health Secretary, he called for action.

Mr McLaughlin said: “The Cabinet Secretary for Health agreed to a reduction in the working week for NHS staff as part of the 2023-24 pay agreement.

“There’s been very little progress, despite Unison calling on him to get on with it.

“Neil Gray needs to understand this is a matter of trust between him and NHS staff. The First Minister has called on unions to work together on NHS reform, but his Cabinet Secretary seems unwilling to honour an agreement.

“NHS staff will judge the Government by what Neil Gray does.

“If he doesn’t act on this, they may struggle to trust him on anything else.”

Scotland’s Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “I remain fully committed to reducing the full-time working week for Agenda for Change staff in NHS Scotland to 36 hours without loss of pay as detailed in our Programme for Government.

“We have already implemented the first phase of this, reducing full-time working hours from 37.5 to 37 from 1 April last year.

“I have met with stakeholders including unions to hear their views and have also heard directly from NHS staff on this issue and will announce the next phase of the reduction in due course.”