17 September 2004
'Gross exaggeration and political criticism' has led the public to believe that only half of NHS staff are directly involved in patient care, while the real figure is 84%, Britain's biggest union has claimed.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said political spin was responsible for the 'reality gap' in the public's mind over the number of support staff employed in the NHS.
He accused the major political parties of initiating an NHS 'hunting season', trying to 'out-tough' each other over the number of supposed back-office and support staff they would cut across the service — 'ignoring the fact that these are real jobs held by real people with real benefits to patients'.
Prentis's attack followed the publication on September 13 of new research by ICM — commissioned by Unison and the NHS Confederation, which represents managers —indicating that support staff make up just 16% of the NHS workforce.
A similar poll published earlier this year found that more than half of respondents thought managers comprised more than 20% of the NHS workforce, when the real figure is just 4%.
Dr Gill Morgan, NHS Confederation chief executive, said: 'Accusations that the NHS is awash with "pen-pushers" are not only misleading the public, it is damaging the morale of hard-working staff. It is time to end the bureaucrat bashing.'
PFsep2004
