Women ’ s conference opens with a range of debates

UNISON’s national women’s conference opened in Bournemouth this afternoon with a debate on safety for the social care workforce. One delegate described how, as a nurse, she had seen a patient with severe medical problems that cause difficult behaviour, putting the patient themselves and those working them at risk. To help avoid this, the hospital uses a private agency to supply extra staff – but having a different carer everyday exacerbates the problems – and all in the name of profit. Jenny Martin from the West Midlands took the opportunity to remind delegates of the ongoing struggle by Birmingham care workers against plans by the city council to slash their hours and pay. On women’s heath safety and wellbeing in the workplace, hospital cleaner Cath from Torbay told of how they took she and her colleagues took their employer to court over the chemicals they were given to use in their work and the lack of training in using them correctly. They won compensation for the sickness caused – and have now had proper training. She also urged delegates to be aware of what they use to clean in their own homes, pointing out that, for instance, if you use bleach with hot water, fumes are created that can do damage to the respiratory system. UNISON wins £70,000 pay out for hospital cleaners Branch welfare officer Debbie from Fermanagh told delegates about the problems faced in getting heath advice out to other women. Conference backed the idea of using the internet to ena...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News 2019 Women's Conference health and safety pensions State pensions WASPI Source Type: news