Poll reveals public divided on the Government’s approach to unions

The public is divided over whether the Government is doing a good job when dealing with trade unions to prevent disruption to public services, a poll suggests.

The research by Ipsos found 32% of people back the Government’s approach to pay claims, but just under a quarter (23%) said the Government is doing a bad job in this regard; 30% were non-committal.

The public is also split on whether Labour is doing a better job in trade union negotiations than the previous Conservative Government, with 35% saying they preferred the current administration’s approach and 37% believing there has been no change in effectiveness since the General Election.

However, only 16% said Labour’s approach is worse than the previous Government’s.

Rachel Reeves recently said there are “no blank cheques” to deal with pay demands from public sector unions, amid criticism of the Government’s attempts to end strike action.

The Chancellor has already announced the Government would accept the recommendations of pay review bodies to grant millions of public sector workers above-inflation pay rises of between 5% and 6%.

Junior doctors will be given pay increases of around 20% over two years while a multi-year pay offer has been made to train drivers in a bid to resolve the long-running pay disputes and end strikes.

The Conservatives responded by accusing Labour of having “caved to the unions”.

Half of people polled said they are confident that Labour will take the right decisions to resolve industrial action within the healthcare sector specifically, but 43% are either not very confident or have no confidence this will be the case.

Meanwhile, 53% said they either have little or no confidence in the Government to deliver on its pledge to create 40,000 NHS appointments per week.

The findings come amid ongoing pessimism about the state of the NHS, with 54% believing it is heading in the wrong direction and only 22% saying it is heading in the right direction.

However, perceptions of the NHS in England have improved, with 57% saying that the quality of NHS services in general is good, up 11 percentage points since March.

The research also found that 48% of people were supportive of collective action by GPs, compared to 25% who were opposed.

The support was consistent at around 50% among people aged 18 to 54, but dropped to 38% in the 55 to 75 age group.

GPs overwhelmingly backed unprecedented industrial action over the new contract for services in England which the British Medical Association said is “underfunded and overstretched”.

Stopping short of strike action, GPs are able to choose which action to take from a list of 10 options, including limiting daily patient contacts to 25 and seeing patients fact-to-face as a default.

Experts have warned that the move “could exacerbate access problems” for patients and have a knock-on effect on the wider health service as more people turn to services like pharmacies, 111 and A&E departments.

The new Government has made some progress already in negotiating with trade unions, and this has been noted to some extent by the public. But it is clear that the public remain supportive and appreciative of those who staff the NHS, while reserving most sympathy of all for patients

The poll revealed varying attitudes to the collective action options available.

Nearly three in five (58%) said it is acceptable for GP surgeries to refer a patient directly to specialist care, rather than following NHS processes.

But 54% believe it is unacceptable for GPs to limit daily patients to 25, while 60% said the same about switching off NHS software that allows discounted or free prescriptions for some people.

The public showed most concern for NHS patients during the collective action, with 91% saying they have sympathy for them. This contrasts with 62% who said they have sympathy with GPs.

Kate Duxbury, Ipsos UK research director, health and social care, said the polling showed there has been a “a bit of a honeymoon effect” in public perceptions of the NHS under the new Labour Government.

But she added there remains “deep-rooted concerns about the direction the NHS is taking – particularly on availability of appointments”.

She said: “When it comes to industrial action in the NHS, we know from our polling over the last couple of years that the public have tended to support health professionals taking strike action, so it is no surprise that they continue to support GPs taking action that stops short of strikes – although this falls when it directly impacts patients, such as limiting the number GPs see each day.

“The new Government has made some progress already in negotiating with trade unions, and this has been noted to some extent by the public. But it is clear that the public remain supportive and appreciative of those who staff the NHS, while reserving most sympathy of all for patients.”

The findings were taken from two surveys of just over 2000 people overall earlier this month.