Exhausted and fed up, our anger is rising
NURSES and fellow NHS staff branded the proposed one per cent pay rise an insult and hypocrisy yesterday.
The Unite union, representing tens of thousands of health staff, warned of industrial action and the Royal College of Nursing had already set up a fighting fund.
Nurse Holly Turner, below, of Colchester, Essex, said it was “absolutely devastating to see [the Government] place no value in us whatsoever”.
She added: “Strike action would be a complete last resort and would have to be to be planned carefully as patient safety is priority.
“We are exhausted, demoralised, fed up, but there is also an increased level of anger.”
Many staff say a one per cent pay rise would mean they take home around £3.50 extra a week.
Unite representative Ameera Sheikh, an intensive care nurse, said Government support shown earlier in the pandemic now felt “fake”.
She said: “We have treated people from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds to quite literally the leader of the country [Boris Johnson]. We have sacrificed so much and that includes moving out of our family homes to live close to the hospital and in isolation.
“We are facing an increasingly dangerous workload in intensive care.”
And few were impressed with claims that they had received a 12 per cent pay rise over the last three years and their average salary was around £34,000.
Nurse Kelly Robbins, who works in Brighton, said: “We listen to them on TV and they are lying. It’s just painful and really debilitating to hear them say that.
“We know that they make choices, political priorities as to where the money is spent, and it just does seem like a massive insult.”
Clinical sister Kirsty Brewerton, from Coventry, said: “How the Government can say there’s no money beggars belief. The billions that they spent on Test and Trace, the PPE contracts that were not appropriate for use.”
Mel, a staff nurse, said: “It’s hypocrisy in its greatest form.
“We have healthcare staff using food banks so £3.50 is not going to improve their situation.
“I am angry beyond words both for myself but also for my colleagues who I see struggle daily.”
Eve, a nurse in central London, she and colleagues were exhausted and suffering from “severe” PTSD.
She said: “We must strike now. How else can we get our voice heard? Claps don’t pay our bills or feed our families.”