UNISON activists from health, local government and university branches in Norfolk and Waveney joined UNISON staff and some brave employer representatives on 5 July for the first UNISON STP (Sustainability and Transformation Plans) training day in the UK.
STP’s are being made in 44 footprints across the country, aimed at joining up health and social care in ways that will save the NHS £22 billion (yes, £22 billion) by 2020. That probably means a significant rationalisation of services, with new service configurations covering much larger areas.
There is an obvious and significant implication for jobs and services arising from changing the current system so radically. The training day was aimed at informing people about the scope and purpose of STP’s, what the local plans currently are and giving everyone an opportunity to ask questions and to make plans locally to engage with the STP.
Sasha Pearce, the region’s head of health, said “There is a lot of uncertainty about what STP’s will mean for our members in all the public services at the moment. Today was a great opportunity to learn, share and organise around this issue which will become more and more important in the next few years. We plan to roll this training out to the other five STP footprints in Eastern region, and the course will be made available to all other regions as well.”