ealth Secretary Steve Barclay has insisted he is “engaging” with unions as the NHS prepares for the biggest ever industrial action in its history.
Addressing the Health and Social Care Committee, Mr Barclay said that discussions had been “constructive” despite no clear sign of an end to the bitter dispute over pay.
It comes as the GMB union, which represents paramedics, expressed “disappointment” that the minister could not find time to meet with ambulance staff in parliament on Tuesday.
In under a week, the NHS in England is set to experience the biggest industrial action in history as nurses and ambulance staff walk out simultaneously on Monday.
It will be the start of almost a week of strikes for the health service in England as physiotherapists and ambulance workers from other unions also prepare to take action.
NHS Providers warned that disruption caused by the action will “skyrocket” as it pressed for a swift resolution to be reached.
Analysis by the organisation, which represents NHS trusts, suggests that some 88,000 appointments have been postponed in England in just seven weeks.
Mr Barclay said of the strikes: “We are engaging with the trade unions.
“I think if you look at the last meeting we had, the chair of the NHS staff council said that our discussion had been constructive and that’s very much the tenure in which we are engaging with trade union colleagues.
“We recognise that the NHS has been under huge pressure through the pandemic, and also the pressures that many others in society face from the cost of living also apply to those working within the NHS.
“So we recognise both in terms of the demand from Covid, the demand we saw over Christmas in terms of a huge spike in flu on top of a high ongoing level of Covid, the system itself was under huge pressure.
“But also that comes in the wider economic context that society as a whole, given the cost of the pandemic, given the impact on inflation from the war in Ukraine, has also seen cost of living pressures – NHS staff are all part of that.”
Before his appearance, Mr Barclay was invited to a private meeting with ambulance workers from the GMB union.
But Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: “Disappointingly the Health Secretary was too busy to meet with GMB ambulance workers in parliament today.
“Health workers shouldn’t have to doorstep the Secretary of State to get their point across.
“Junior Health Minister Will Quince MP was good enough to attend.
“GMB members from ambulance services across England and Wales are angry and asked him robust questions about their wages.
“He listened to their concerns but wasn’t interested in talking about pay.”
During some of Mr Barclay’s evidence to the committee, ambulance staff could be seen watching in the viewing gallery.
Later during the Select Committee, Mr Barclay responded that he will be putting evidence into the pay review body, is bringing forward “recovery plans”, recruiting more staff and looking at non-pay issues like pensions.
“The honest position is to recognise that this is not simply a pressure on the English NHS, it’s something the Welsh, the Scots and others are also facing, as are health systems across the world,” he added.
