Pak Sahafat – Thousands of physiotherapists in England stopped working on Thursday in the continuation of the wave of protests by government employees regarding their unfavorable working conditions and wages, bringing the country’s health system one step closer to collapse.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency, the members of the union known as the British Physiotherapy Society (CSP) have gone on strike for 24 hours in 30 health centers of this country. Claire Sullivan, director of employment relations at CSP, said: The government should come to the negotiating table with a concrete offer that we can provide to our members and prevent further strikes. He added: “We are determined to reach an agreement that will help our members cope with the cost of living crisis and the National Medical Services Organization will be able to maintain the staff of this department.
British Health Minister Steve Barclay called the strike of physiotherapists in this country regrettable and said that he will continue to consult with the unions to reach an agreement on the employment status of the ministry’s employees.
This is while the uncontrollable inflation, the increase in the price of food and energy, the lack of gas and electricity and the water cut caused by it, have made all the British people who are deprived of their usual prosperity to protest and strike.
From health centers to post office workers, lawyers, firefighters and thousands of UK public sector workers have gone on strike at various points in recent weeks. Due to the failure of the protesters’ negotiations, the protesters have prepared more strikes for the coming days and weeks.
The protesting employees in the Ministry of Health of England are demanding an increase in their wages, in line with the rate of inflation. The inflation index in England has reached 2 to 10 percent over the past year. According to the latest report of the British National Statistics Center, inflation reached 10.5% last December. Last November, the inflation index reached 11.1%, which was unprecedented in the last half century.
The Prime Minister of England has described inflation as the main challenge of this country and has promised to reduce it by half this year. A claim that seems unlikely from the point of view of economic experts, and it is predicted that inflation will not be less than 10% this year.
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Last week, hundreds of British government employees protested in front of the Prime Minister’s office. In this protest movement, which was mostly attended by healthcare workers, union representatives from different trades and different strata of people, the participants carried slogans and cloths in protest against the economic and austerity policies of the Rishi Sunak government.
On some placards it was written: “The reduction of the public budget is at the cost of human lives”, “Time is running out, the government should stop being greedy” and “We are on strike to save the National Medical Service Organization” and the representatives of the unions blamed the policies of the conservative government. They considered the current situation and the continuation of strikes as the most effective way to reflect their protests to the authorities.
Robert Jenrick, UK’s deputy home secretary, says public sector workers will not be able to get a “significant” pay rise because inflation is falling. He told Sky News: “I think if the international factors are moving in the right direction, the worst thing we can do domestically is to raise public sector wages significantly … We have to be very careful because inflation is a great evil.”
The results of the latest research show that most British people are dissatisfied with the performance of the country’s health system in the midst of a sharp drop in medical services and a widespread strike by doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers.
The joint findings of a survey conducted by the prestigious Yugao Institute and The Times of London show that according to two thirds of the British people, the level of medical services in this country is dire, and eighty percent believe that the situation has worsened over the past five years, that is, after the British exit from the European Union.
The British National Health Service (NHS) was launched for the first time in 1948 and after the end of the Second World War in order to provide medical services to the injured and wounded in war, and currently, with one million and 600 thousand employees, it provides free of charge to the people.
The budget of this organization in the year of its establishment in 1948 amounted to 437 million pounds (today’s value is about 9 billion pounds) and this figure has reached about 136 billion pounds this year, which puts a lot of pressure on the government budget of this country.
This is while the economic conditions of England are in the worst conditions of the last half century due to several consecutive crises, and the country is experiencing a long period of economic stagnation, according to the head of the central bank.