NHS (Pay and Conditions) (Hansard, 1 November 1988)

§ 7. Mr. Pendry
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the pay and conditions of service of ancillary staffs in the National Health Service.

§ Mr. Mellor
Since the last time this matter was raised during questions on 12 July we have received three letters from right hon. and hon. Members and six from members of the public.

§ Mr. Pendry
Will the Minister take it from me that should, in the current negotiations, the management side of the Whitley council not recognise the essential part that those overworked and underpaid workers in the NHS play, he will be receiving strong representations from the union side? If the talks end in deadlock, as seems likely, will he give a guarantee now that he will use his best endeavours to ensure that both sides in the pending dispute go to arbitration?

§ Mr. Mellor
We have enough trouble already without anticipating trouble that may not come. The hon. Gentleman's predictions about what may or may not happen at the end of a pay round that has barely begun do not excite my interest at the moment. The hon. Gentleman does us a disservice. During the course of the previous negotiations the 40-hour week was reduced to 39 hours, which meant that the lowest basic hourly rate for ancillary workers was increased by 9 per cent. That is a much better deal than they obtained under the Labour Government when, he might like to recall, the pay of ancillary workers fell 10 per cent., compared with an increase in spending power during the Conservatives' reign.

§ Mr. John Townend
Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that the higher that wage settlements in the NHS are in the coming year, the less money will be available for improvements in patient care?

§ Mr. Mellor
Yes. One thing is absolutely clear. Some people talk about the NHS as though it was merely a basis for increased pay for those who work within it. Already we know that of the substantial resources that go into the NHS, over 70 per cent. goes towards the pay of those who work within it. We recognise that one of the greatest assets of the service is the skills of those who work within it, but a lot more needs to be done and, plainly, improving patient services is something to which we intend to give even greater priority than we have in the past.