Hospital food - UNISON response
Commenting on a report on hospital food* released today (22 Feb), Christina McAnea, UNISON head of health, said:
“Healthy, appetising food is vital to a speedy recovery and long-lasting health. When patients are poorly, it can be difficult to stimulate their appetites. Serving quality food helps physiologically and aids recovery.
“Hospitals should move away from Cook Chill food production, and towards cooking food on site, using locally sourced food. This would help to reinvigorate local economies, as well as benefit the environment.
“Outsourcing of catering services has had a detrimental impact on the quality of food served in hospitals, which is why so many people rely on vending machines and fast food outlets in hospital foyers.”
Hospital catering staff are working hard to produce quality food against the backdrop of budget cuts and privatisation. They also need enough time to ensure that patients are not only getting the right food, but have the help and time they need to be able to eat it.
*Report by Sustain
Monday, February 25, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
12/02/2013
UNISON today welcomed the move from the FSA to initiate some unannounced inspections of meat cutting plants in the wake of the horsemeat scandal, but said the FSA must go further, and put in place daily inspections by FSA meat inspectors.
A communication sent to all Food Standards Agency (FSA) staff has revealed that the Agency has commissioned a programme of unannounced visits to stand-alone cutting plants in England, Scotland and Wales. Under the new programme, red meat is to be prioritised before white meat, and premises giving cause for concern will be inspected first.
All horses killed in the UK will now be for the veterinary drug ‘BUTE’, and horse carcases will not be released until negative results are received, but UNISON is also calling for carcasses to be tested for the dangerous parasite, ‘Trichinela Spiralis’.
Ben Priestley, UNISON national officer said:
“UNISON is glad that the FSA has seen sense and has listened to our call to reintroduce unannounced inspections in meat cutting plants. Consumer confidence in meat products is once again very low and, while this is a step in the right direction, true consumer protection will not be achieved until daily, unannounced inspections are back in place.
“The lesson we learned about control of the meat industry following the BSE and e-Coli crises was that only strong, independent government inspection could properly protect consumers from industry malpractice.
“This has been forgotten as meat inspection, environmental health and trading standards services have been severely reduced by government cuts and light touch regulation.”
As a direct consequence of the ‘light tough regulation’ policies of both the European Commission and the UK government, the meat inspection workforce managed by the Food Standards agency has shrunk from a high point of 1700 – during the BSE and e-Coli crises in the 1990s – to around 800 today.
The inspection procedures that were effectively enforced following BSE and the Wishaw outbreak of e-Coli have, in the intervening years, been removed or substantially watered down.
In addition to the programme, UNISON is calling on the FSA to:
Reintroduce daily official inspection of all licensed meat cutting plants and cold storage facilities via capacity within the FSA inspection workforce to deliver the necessary enhancement to consumer protection and public health
Ensure that testing of horses killed in the UK for the drug BUTE is an ongoing safeguard for the consumer and is not a time limited measure in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. See that the horsemeat currently unlawfully sold as beef has been tested for the dangerous parasite, ‘Trichinela Spiralis’.
Move away from light touch, risk based enforcement and maintain an inspection system that delivers ongoing consumer and public health protection and does not become a boom and bust system that responds to consumer and public health crisis, the aim being to avoid the crisis Oversee the independent inspection of food manufacturing premises – where government cuts have compromised the ability of local authorities to do so.
Reintroduction of meat inspection in meat cutting plants 'a victory for common sense'
UNISON today welcomed the move from the FSA to initiate some unannounced inspections of meat cutting plants in the wake of the horsemeat scandal, but said the FSA must go further, and put in place daily inspections by FSA meat inspectors.
A communication sent to all Food Standards Agency (FSA) staff has revealed that the Agency has commissioned a programme of unannounced visits to stand-alone cutting plants in England, Scotland and Wales. Under the new programme, red meat is to be prioritised before white meat, and premises giving cause for concern will be inspected first.
All horses killed in the UK will now be for the veterinary drug ‘BUTE’, and horse carcases will not be released until negative results are received, but UNISON is also calling for carcasses to be tested for the dangerous parasite, ‘Trichinela Spiralis’.
Ben Priestley, UNISON national officer said:
“UNISON is glad that the FSA has seen sense and has listened to our call to reintroduce unannounced inspections in meat cutting plants. Consumer confidence in meat products is once again very low and, while this is a step in the right direction, true consumer protection will not be achieved until daily, unannounced inspections are back in place.
“The lesson we learned about control of the meat industry following the BSE and e-Coli crises was that only strong, independent government inspection could properly protect consumers from industry malpractice.
“This has been forgotten as meat inspection, environmental health and trading standards services have been severely reduced by government cuts and light touch regulation.”
As a direct consequence of the ‘light tough regulation’ policies of both the European Commission and the UK government, the meat inspection workforce managed by the Food Standards agency has shrunk from a high point of 1700 – during the BSE and e-Coli crises in the 1990s – to around 800 today.
The inspection procedures that were effectively enforced following BSE and the Wishaw outbreak of e-Coli have, in the intervening years, been removed or substantially watered down.
In addition to the programme, UNISON is calling on the FSA to:
Reintroduce daily official inspection of all licensed meat cutting plants and cold storage facilities via capacity within the FSA inspection workforce to deliver the necessary enhancement to consumer protection and public health
Ensure that testing of horses killed in the UK for the drug BUTE is an ongoing safeguard for the consumer and is not a time limited measure in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. See that the horsemeat currently unlawfully sold as beef has been tested for the dangerous parasite, ‘Trichinela Spiralis’.
Move away from light touch, risk based enforcement and maintain an inspection system that delivers ongoing consumer and public health protection and does not become a boom and bust system that responds to consumer and public health crisis, the aim being to avoid the crisis Oversee the independent inspection of food manufacturing premises – where government cuts have compromised the ability of local authorities to do so.
12/02/2013
“It is time for the government to ditch these unlawful policies which force people to work without pay or lose their benefits.
“Multi million pound companies receiving free labour are the only winners of the Tory back to work programmes. The losers are those who are forced into jobs that, in many cases, have nothing to do with their qualifications, or the jobs they are looking for. By seriously undercutting existing paid staff, the plans could damage wage and employment growth.
“What our country desperately needs to get our economy back on track is more people working in real jobs, and getting paid properly for doing so. It is time for the government to turn its full attention to cutting the dole queues.”
The union is also warning that if the government does not ditch the welfare to work policies, it will run a coach and horses through minimum wage legislation by creating an enormous loophole.
Back to work scheme - UNISON response
Commenting on the Court of Appeal ruling that the Government’s unpaid back to work programmes are unlawful, UNISON Assistant General Secretary, Karen Jennings, said:“It is time for the government to ditch these unlawful policies which force people to work without pay or lose their benefits.
“Multi million pound companies receiving free labour are the only winners of the Tory back to work programmes. The losers are those who are forced into jobs that, in many cases, have nothing to do with their qualifications, or the jobs they are looking for. By seriously undercutting existing paid staff, the plans could damage wage and employment growth.
“What our country desperately needs to get our economy back on track is more people working in real jobs, and getting paid properly for doing so. It is time for the government to turn its full attention to cutting the dole queues.”
The union is also warning that if the government does not ditch the welfare to work policies, it will run a coach and horses through minimum wage legislation by creating an enormous loophole.
12/02/2013
The law on the interrelationship between the right to freedom of expression and employee confidentiality has been clarified by the President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), following an appeal on behalf of UNISON member, Carol Hill. The school dinner lady was sacked in 2009 after she informed a parent that she had found her daughter tied to a fence with whip marks to her leg. Earlier that day, she had taken the young girl, along with the culprits, to the head teacher.
Carol was suspended by Mrs Crabb, the head teacher of Great Tey Primary School in Essex in July 2009, and then, dismissed the following month after speaking to the press about her suspension.
An Employment Tribunal sitting in Bury St Edmunds in January 2011, found that Carol had been unfairly dismissed, but the same Employment Tribunal, at a Remedies Hearing in February 2011, took the view that Carol had contributed to her dismissal and therefore that it was right to reduce the amount of compensation that she should be awarded.
The EAT upheld all six of Carol’s grounds of appeal, and held that the Employment Tribunal had erred in law when reducing the compensation payable to Carol, and that all of the Employment Tribunal’s conclusions in relation to Remedy could not stand and must be decided anew.
Carol Hill said:
“I am delighted with the outcome. This appeal has never been about money, but about protecting the children in my care and my right to speak out about what I witnessed at school that day.
“It has been a very stressful ordeal but I feel a step closer to justice. I have been helped enormously by the support from family and friends, as well as my union, UNISON and the media who have highlighted my case.”
Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said:
“Carol has been put through a terrible ordeal by the school and lost a job she truly loved. The value of someone being free to speak out against injustice must be upheld and this decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal strengthens and clarifies this important principle.
“UNISON has long campaigned for staff to be able to speak up when they see wrongdoing in the workplace. This important principle was highlighted very recently in the Francis Report into Mid Staffordshire Hospital. Staff must be able to raise concerns without fear of recrimination in order to protect the people in their care.”
The EAT held that the Employment Tribunal had wrongly applied Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (the right to freedom of expression), and that when making a deduction to the compensation awarded to Carol, the Employment Tribunal had adopted the wrong test and had failed to take into consideration matters which might be said in Carol’s favour.
The EAT also upheld the appeal against the Employment Tribunal’s finding that Carol had breached confidentiality. The EAT held that “the Tribunal did not clearly identify what precisely was confidential about the information that was supplied, nor second to whom it was confidential”. The EAT held that because the Employment Tribunal had wrongly approached Article 10, it may have placed more weight upon factors suggesting that Carol had been blameworthy than it would have done if it had carefully balanced Carol’s right to freedom of speech, against any matters which justified the school’s interference with that right.
The EAT was highly critical of the Employment Tribunal’s Remedies Decision and its interpretation of Carol’s right to freedom of speech saying:
“The Tribunal did not adopt the structured approach to article 10 which we consider is necessary, and instead adopted a homespun and inaccurate reflection of 10 (2), means that it may have placed more weight upon factors suggesting that the claimant had been blameworthy than it would have done if it had carefully balanced her right for free speech against the obligations to keep matters confidential to the appropriate authorities within the school so that the release of information might be sensitively controlled.”
And again:
“It is dangerous, in our view, for a Tribunal to attempt to explain in its own home spun language what are complex provisions which have been the result of careful balance in their legislative expression.”
School dinner lady battles on in fight for justice
The law on the interrelationship between the right to freedom of expression and employee confidentiality has been clarified by the President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), following an appeal on behalf of UNISON member, Carol Hill. The school dinner lady was sacked in 2009 after she informed a parent that she had found her daughter tied to a fence with whip marks to her leg. Earlier that day, she had taken the young girl, along with the culprits, to the head teacher.
Carol was suspended by Mrs Crabb, the head teacher of Great Tey Primary School in Essex in July 2009, and then, dismissed the following month after speaking to the press about her suspension.
An Employment Tribunal sitting in Bury St Edmunds in January 2011, found that Carol had been unfairly dismissed, but the same Employment Tribunal, at a Remedies Hearing in February 2011, took the view that Carol had contributed to her dismissal and therefore that it was right to reduce the amount of compensation that she should be awarded.
The EAT upheld all six of Carol’s grounds of appeal, and held that the Employment Tribunal had erred in law when reducing the compensation payable to Carol, and that all of the Employment Tribunal’s conclusions in relation to Remedy could not stand and must be decided anew.
Carol Hill said:
“I am delighted with the outcome. This appeal has never been about money, but about protecting the children in my care and my right to speak out about what I witnessed at school that day.
“It has been a very stressful ordeal but I feel a step closer to justice. I have been helped enormously by the support from family and friends, as well as my union, UNISON and the media who have highlighted my case.”
Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said:
“Carol has been put through a terrible ordeal by the school and lost a job she truly loved. The value of someone being free to speak out against injustice must be upheld and this decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal strengthens and clarifies this important principle.
“UNISON has long campaigned for staff to be able to speak up when they see wrongdoing in the workplace. This important principle was highlighted very recently in the Francis Report into Mid Staffordshire Hospital. Staff must be able to raise concerns without fear of recrimination in order to protect the people in their care.”
The EAT held that the Employment Tribunal had wrongly applied Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (the right to freedom of expression), and that when making a deduction to the compensation awarded to Carol, the Employment Tribunal had adopted the wrong test and had failed to take into consideration matters which might be said in Carol’s favour.
The EAT also upheld the appeal against the Employment Tribunal’s finding that Carol had breached confidentiality. The EAT held that “the Tribunal did not clearly identify what precisely was confidential about the information that was supplied, nor second to whom it was confidential”. The EAT held that because the Employment Tribunal had wrongly approached Article 10, it may have placed more weight upon factors suggesting that Carol had been blameworthy than it would have done if it had carefully balanced Carol’s right to freedom of speech, against any matters which justified the school’s interference with that right.
The EAT was highly critical of the Employment Tribunal’s Remedies Decision and its interpretation of Carol’s right to freedom of speech saying:
“The Tribunal did not adopt the structured approach to article 10 which we consider is necessary, and instead adopted a homespun and inaccurate reflection of 10 (2), means that it may have placed more weight upon factors suggesting that the claimant had been blameworthy than it would have done if it had carefully balanced her right for free speech against the obligations to keep matters confidential to the appropriate authorities within the school so that the release of information might be sensitively controlled.”
And again:
“It is dangerous, in our view, for a Tribunal to attempt to explain in its own home spun language what are complex provisions which have been the result of careful balance in their legislative expression.”
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Council tax benefit cut
The government has tied the hands of local authorities, and is forcing in council tax increases that will hit the poorest hardest, UNISON warned today.
Adding its voice to the growing outcry against the government’s cut to council tax benefit, the union warned that councils would be placed under unmanageable pressure to provide even basic services if budgets continue to be cut.
When council tax benefit becomes council tax support in April, local authorities will have 10% less in their budgets due to government cuts. The union said this meant low-income households would bear the brunt as local authorities struggled to fund services across the board.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said:
“We have warned since this government began it’s slash and burn attack on our public services that local authorities will only be able to take so much cutting.
“The government has passed the responsibility and the blame for this increase in council tax squarely on the shoulders of local authorities, but it is their attacks on benefits and massive budget cuts that are at fault.
“Local authorities are struggling to provide basic services while libraries, elderly care centres, swimming pools and nurseries close down.
“The governments cuts agenda is strangling local authorities, stifling growth and keeping the poorest in our society in a downward spiral towards poverty.”
Friday, February 01, 2013
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