ENOUGH OF THE CLAP TRAP... IT’S TIME OUR NURSES HAD A PAY RISE
MY SON is a nurse. Have I mentioned that before? I probably have – sorry to drone on – but I am hugely proud of what he does for a career. He’s in a big city A&E and has been throughout this pandemic year, just one of around 600,000 registered nurses who have helped keep the wheels on the NHS cart even as other forces were attempting to cut its brakes.
But Lord it’s hard. I don’t just mean these last few months – although God knows nursing in a time of Covid is no picnic – but before that and every day, day in and day out.
He does 12-hour-plus shifts. If I’m tired in work the worst that can happen is the odd spelling mistake. Any errors on his part have far graver consequences.
On many wards, social distancing and the demands of patient care mean staff breaks have become shortened.
The NHS in general remains chronically over stretched and under-resourced. Significant numbers of staff have been lost – through sickness or simply because they’ve quit – and there aren’t the ready replacements.
Meanwhile those coming through the hospital doors arrive in all shapes and sizes and with all sorts of needs, from those requiring life-saving intervention to simply the provision of a listening ear and a cuppa.
The paucity of mental health support is palpable. A few weeks ago one of my son’s colleagues was punched by a patient. He hasn’t pressed charges.
And now it’s winter. And Covid is still here. And the demands will ratchet up on a weekly basis.
But of course, you know all this. We all do. We know how important our nurses are and what an amazing job they do because here in 2020 the focus has been on the profession like never before.
The BBC went into hospitals to bring us frontline reports on them and people nominated others for awards. They helped save the life of the Prime Minister and we stood on our doorsteps and clapped every Thursday to show our appreciation of their work. But that was then and this is now.
The outpouring of gratitude witnessed in the first wave of the pandemic in April and May has, here in November, trickled back to that take-itfor-granted familiarity.
Now, two things need to happen. Nurses should get a pay rise and get it before Christmas. It would boost morale and show we care far more than a round of applause.
Second, 2020 should be seized as an opportunity to re-set and re-think how the profession is organised and structured.
Working conditions need to be reviewed. Incentives, including decent career and training plans, put in place to keep nurses in the NHS.
There has to be investment in the profession and ordinary people – you and I – should be pushing hard and lobbying for it.
Only then might we stand a chance of filling the current 40,000-plus nursing vacancies across the country. Only then might we have a chance for such a vital workforce to feel valued.
The clapping has stopped. Now it has to be replaced with a much louder sound – the clamour for change.