Unison and FDA launch unprecedented new trade union organisation

Wrongly derided as 'bureaucrats' and ignorantly dismissed as 'waste', thousands of NHS chief executives, directors and managers will seek representation and a stronger policy voice by joining Managers in Partnership (MiP), an unprecedented new trade union organisation for health service managers launching on 6 June.

On Monday, David Prentis, general secretary of public service union UNISON, and Jonathan Baume, general secretary of senior public servants' union the FDA, will formally launch MiP after four years of preparing the joint venture.

"We wanted to build on the strengths of the two unions to create an organisation tailor-made for health service managers. With Unison's reach and understanding of the NHS, and the FDA's experience in representing senior managers and influencing policy, Managers in Partnership will offer members the services managers tell us they need", said Baume.

Prentis said: "This is a unique development in British trade union history. For UNISON, the partnership with the FDA provides an opportunity for giving a voice to a key group of staff and bringing them into the trade union family in a way that is appropriate for them. UNISON is continuing here its traditional lead in the trade union movement of finding ways to represent minority groups within the framework of the broader union."

MiP will represent, support and provide an influential policy voice to managers who face relentless pressures including re-defined or under-defined roles, over-riding targets and ever greater personal accountability (and blame). MiP will also provide collective influence on policy through working closely with government, the Department of Health, NHS Employers and other professional bodies.

"When it suits them, everyone in public life considers health service managers as fair game," said MiP chief executive Jonathan Restell. "Caring and innovative leaders can be abused, misrepresented and treated brutally. You may be an otherwise confident and resourceful manager, but year after year of this culture has left you and your colleagues feeling voiceless and neglected.

"If you are a senior manager on the front line delivering higher standards for patients, you want a challenging job and you want to be accountable. But you don't want an impossible job. The government has invested huge amounts of money in the NHS. In return it wants improvements in capacity, standards of care and efficiency. Because these pressures are real and inevitable, the needs and voice of managers must not be ignored. If they are to deliver change for patients and staff, they must have a fair and supportive environment. Unfortunately, our work shows that many NHS organisations are prepared to treat their senior people unfairly or harshly. MiP will stand up for managers individually and as a group."

Steve Barnett, director of NHS Employers, welcomed the launch and said: "Managers are a vital part of the NHS team and it is important they can get access to strong representation in the same way that other healthcare workers can. This new partnership arrangement will provide them with a service that is dedicated to representing their interests. We wish MiP every success and look forward to working with it in the future."

MiP will launch with more than 4,000 foundation members from UNISON and the FDA but expects to grow significantly. MiP itself will be a wholly new organisation independent from its parent unions and dedicated solely to the interests of health service managers. Its members will decide MiP policy, structure and organisation. MiP is not affiliated to any political organisation or party.

In a survey of managers conducted for the launch, almost three out of four managers said their organisations faced major restructuring over the next two years. More than four in five managers believe that ministers, the media and the general public do not understand their roles in delivering change in the health service. Almost 90% think that employment protection for managers will become more important in the coming years. More than half think that they do not have the right resources to perform their jobs well. Notes for editors
1. MiP is a new organisation developed through a partnership between UNISON, the largest public service union, and the FDA, the union for managers and professionals in public service. Neither merger nor take-over, MiP is a separate organisation, with its own staff, independent from its parent unions and run by its own members.

2. UNISON is Britain's biggest trade union with more than 1.3 million members. Its members work in the public services, for private contractors providing public services and in the essential utilities.

3.The FDA is the union for senior managers and professionals in public service with more than 13,000 members.

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