The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Yousaf in Army talks for NHS strikes contingency
Humza Yousaf says early talks have been held with military chiefs in case the Army needs to be called in to help the health service cope with staff strikes.
The SNP Health Secretary said contingency plans had been discussed with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) but that the threshold for such support would be “extremely high”.
Scottish Ambulance Service staff, including paramedics, are due to take industrial action later this month.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing and other health unions have also voted for a combination of strike and industrial action over pay.
Mr Yousaf was quizzed about the Scottish Government’s contingency plans during an interview on the BBC’S Sunday Show.
“There has been contingency planning with the Scottish Ambulance Service, and every single health board, for months and months,” he said.
“As you would expect, of course, there have been active discussions with other emergency services, but they are also under pressure and under strain.
“And also of course with the MOD, but I have to say the Maca (Military Aid to Civil Authorities) would be an in extremis option, given of course that the Army are under their own pressures at the moment.
“They have rightly said that the threshold for any Maca support would be extremely high.
“We’ll do our best to avoid a strike but I wouldn’t be doing my job, frankly, if I wasn’t speaking to every single health board to get those detailed contingency plans in place.”
The military was called in to help struggling health boards during the pandemic.
It previously emerged that Mr Yousaf and his Welsh counterpart had written to the UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay asking for more funding to help avert strike action this winter.
Mr Yousaf along with Eluned Morgan wrote to Mr Barclay ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement in a bid to call for additional funding for NHS staff.
It comes after ambulance workers in Scotland voted to take industrial action for one day on November 28.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney and the Welsh Government minister for finance recently wrote to the Treasury in calls for additional funding for public services.
The letter reads: “We wanted to write to you in advance of the chancellor’s autumn statement on November 17 to once again make the case for additional
funding for our hardworking NHS staff.
“The Royal College of Nursing have announced a sweeping legal mandate for industrial action across the UK.
“In Scotland, they have joined several other unions representing NHS staff in gaining a legal mandate for industrial action with ballots expected to confirm a mandate in the rest of the UK.
“The risk to the NHS of industrial action this winter is profound, and we all need to do all we can to avert it in any form.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “We are investing record amounts in health and social care and the chancellor has been clear that protecting public services like the NHS is a priority.
“We are hugely grateful for the hard work of NHS staff, including nurses, and that’s why we accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body in full and have given more than one million NHS workers in England a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.
“This is on top of a 3% pay increase last year when public sector pay was frozen and wider government support with the cost of living.”