1% Pay Rise to the NHS

[DaveP67 is back!]

Society undervalues those jobs that without people doing them no matter what the conditions, risk and low pay society would disintegrate. Nurses are the ones who provide the majority of of our medical care when we need it most, most of us when we come to the end of our lives will be reliant on them to ensure we don’t suffer and are looked after, be it at home, hospice or hospital, my wife is a district nurse, the toll on her team this last year has been awful, so much death, so many very sick patients being let out of hospital to soon to free up space, having the trauma of care homes to deal with( yes the district nurses are the ones who still had to go into these to administer care) short numbers have led them to effectively work 10 hour shifts day in day out, have they complained during this no, they have gotten on with it because someone had too. I doubt any of you who believe 1% on top of what is already a pitifully low salary is good enough would last a day even an hour in this job. There is such undervaluing of this and other key jobs in our society it is truly awful.
By the way I am at the polar opposite, working in the city, my annual bonus is sometimes more than my wife’s salary, this isn’t right, I moan about stress and work long hours but it’s on me, it’s nothing compared to the daily mental toll nurses go through.

[Baggiemadguern]

Society undervalues those jobs that without people doing them no matter what the conditions, risk and low pay society would disintegrate. Nurses are the ones who provide the majority of of our medical care when we need it most, most of us when we come to the end of our lives will be reliant on them to ensure we don’t suffer and are looked after, be it at home, hospice or hospital, my wife is a district nurse, the toll on her team this last year has been awful, so much death, so many very sick patients being let out of hospital to soon to free up space, having the trauma of care homes to deal with( yes the district nurses are the ones who still had to go into these to administer care) short numbers have led them to effectively work 10 hour shifts day in day out, have they complained during this no, they have gotten on with it because someone had too. I doubt any of you who believe 1% on top of what is already a pitifully low salary is good enough would last a day even an hour in this job. There is such undervaluing of this and other key jobs in our society it is truly awful.
By the way I am at the polar opposite, working in the city, my annual bonus is sometimes more than my wife’s salary, this isn’t right, I moan about stress and work long hours but it’s on me, it’s nothing compared to the daily mental toll nurses go through.

Dave, my point was this is probably not the best time to be asking for a 12.5% increase. Your nation in falling to its knees. Unemployment is at his highest in a very long time and the recovery from this pandemic may be with us for a number of years to come. (I guess Governments will use the pandemic as an excuse for many things for many years to come) Somehow money is going to be needed to facilitate the nations recovery and unlike some think, there is unlikely going to be a quick fix.

The value of health care cannot be stressed enough, they are a godsend and I guess like most, at least since the 2008 crash, they have had to accept less than what they rightly deserve. Our nurses have had a 10% increase over 2 years so a little different from the UK, but they are still clamouring for more.

Of course many of us will require hospital care at some point and quite likely some sort of care as we go on into our twilight years, and there they will be doing what they always do, caring in that special way.

I understand that you see first hand the state your wife is in, mentally and physically and how she deals with it and that can be painful for a partner. I worked in the emergency services and my wife saw me come home many times having dealt with something shockingly awful and although I tried to hide it she knew, death, violence, woundings, serious road collisions, air accidents, sometimes had a detrimental effect on me. Some sights I will never forget, though I wish I could. What kept me going was the thought of being there and helping those in need and those that had to be told their loved was not coming home.

I knew when I joined up it was not going to be a picnic and I knew the salary, although perhaps not bad, was not great, for me it was the dream career I wanted. (As I said in a previous post, if had known what I was getting into I would not have done it, but that was not because of the job, just other political reasons) Bit i stock with it and I can tell you now it cost me more than money.

What i am saying is health workers a worth every penny they are paid and at the right time health workers pay (perhaps the whole pay structure of health workers) should be reevaluated and brought into line with today’s expectations for the service they provide.

Clapping was a gesture, it did not fill health workers palms with monies, that was not the intention. I understand many emergency workers felt it was the nations show of appreciation and actually joined in the spirit of that gesture, so to devalue a big national thank you to health workers would be a shame.

I think we are in agreement health workers need to be paid more, our difference perhaps is the timing of when to make that stance. Credit to you and your good lady, she is a star and I hope that all health workers are provided financially with what they are truly worth soonest.

[regis80]

Dave, my point was this is probably not the best time to be asking for a 12.5% increase. Your nation in falling to its knees. Unemployment is at his highest in a very long time and the recovery from this pandemic may be with us for a number of years to come. (I guess Governments will use the pandemic as an excuse for many things for many years to come) Somehow money is going to be needed to facilitate the nations recovery and unlike some think, there is unlikely going to be a quick fix.

The value of health care cannot be stressed enough, they are a godsend and I guess like most, at least since the 2008 crash, they have had to accept less than what they rightly deserve. Our nurses have had a 10% increase over 2 years so a little different from the UK, but they are still clamouring for more.

Of course many of us will require hospital care at some point and quite likely some sort of care as we go on into our twilight years, and there they will be doing what they always do, caring in that special way.

I understand that you see first hand the state your wife is in, mentally and physically and how she deals with it and that can be painful for a partner. I worked in the emergency services and my wife saw me come home many times having dealt with something shockingly awful and although I tried to hide it she knew, death, violence, woundings, serious road collisions, air accidents, sometimes had a detrimental effect on me. Some sights I will never forget, though I wish I could. What kept me going was the thought of being there and helping those in need and those that had to be told their loved was not coming home.

I knew when I joined up it was not going to be a picnic and I knew the salary, although perhaps not bad, was not great, for me it was the dream career I wanted. (As I said in a previous post, if had known what I was getting into I would not have done it, but that was not because of the job, just other political reasons) Bit i stock with it and I can tell you now it cost me more than money.

What i am saying is health workers a worth every penny they are paid and at the right time health workers pay (perhaps the whole pay structure of health workers) should be reevaluated and brought into line with today’s expectations for the service they provide.

Clapping was a gesture, it did not fill health workers palms with monies, that was not the intention. I understand many emergency workers felt it was the nations show of appreciation and actually joined in the spirit of that gesture, so to devalue a big national thank you to health workers would be a shame.

I think we are in agreement health workers need to be paid more, our difference perhaps is the timing of when to make that stance. Credit to you and your good lady, she is a star and I hope that all health workers are provided financially with what they are truly worth soonest.

While I agree we need to balance the books. The least the government could have done is meet in the middle. I think when budgets are made, particularly in a pandemic.. a tax rise to fund pay increases for nurses would be overwhelmingly appreciated and accepted by majority of the tax payers. The fact is nhs staff have not had any significant rises for many years, let alone actually funding for the nhs. We still have nothing set aside, no contingency plan for another pandemic.

[phild]

We all know how this is gonna play out. This insane Government puts out the 1% figure, listens to the push back and then caves in anyway and will increase the figure. They've chucked that much money about like confetti then an extra few percent wont faze em. They have dug themselves in such a hole they will almost give in to any demand

[Leicesterbaggie]

Two very good posts by both DaveP67 and Baggiemadguern. I find myself sympathising with both points of view. Of course the nurses deserve a bigger pay rise than 1% but the timing is also an issue. I personally would not be averse to paying more income tax to fund it but not everybody is of the same opinion. Mind you there are other services who have been putting their lives on the line as well. It's a difficult one.

[baggiematt]

To be honest, I agree with the 1% pay rise even though I'm an NHS employee myself. It's been the one industry where staff have been able to thrive financially whilst all others are struggling. Overtime and higher rates of pay have been the norm for a lot of people in the NHS for the last year. I appreciate it feels like a slap in the face for those that have put a big shift in but we don't assign pay by sympathy, credit or how much we value something; it's entirely market driven.

People forget that the NHS employs 1.4 million and it's paid for almost entirely out of the public purse. A further 1% increase would be used as money that should be used to help those who will be out of work, businesses that are failing and the mental health crisis throughout the year.

The unions are arguing people will leave over this, where the heck do they think they will go in this market?

[SwedishBaggie]

Society undervalues those jobs that without people doing them no matter what the conditions, risk and low pay society would disintegrate. Nurses are the ones who provide the majority of of our medical care when we need it most, most of us when we come to the end of our lives will be reliant on them to ensure we don’t suffer and are looked after, be it at home, hospice or hospital, my wife is a district nurse, the toll on her team this last year has been awful, so much death, so many very sick patients being let out of hospital to soon to free up space, having the trauma of care homes to deal with( yes the district nurses are the ones who still had to go into these to administer care) short numbers have led them to effectively work 10 hour shifts day in day out, have they complained during this no, they have gotten on with it because someone had too. I doubt any of you who believe 1% on top of what is already a pitifully low salary is good enough would last a day even an hour in this job. There is such undervaluing of this and other key jobs in our society it is truly awful.
By the way I am at the polar opposite, working in the city, my annual bonus is sometimes more than my wife’s salary, this isn’t right, I moan about stress and work long hours but it’s on me, it’s nothing compared to the daily mental toll nurses go through.

Could not agree more, Dave.🌟

[baggieal]

Society undervalues those jobs that without people doing them no matter what the conditions, risk and low pay society would disintegrate. Nurses are the ones who provide the majority of of our medical care when we need it most, most of us when we come to the end of our lives will be reliant on them to ensure we don’t suffer and are looked after, be it at home, hospice or hospital, my wife is a district nurse, the toll on her team this last year has been awful, so much death, so many very sick patients being let out of hospital to soon to free up space, having the trauma of care homes to deal with( yes the district nurses are the ones who still had to go into these to administer care) short numbers have led them to effectively work 10 hour shifts day in day out, have they complained during this no, they have gotten on with it because someone had too. I doubt any of you who believe 1% on top of what is already a pitifully low salary is good enough would last a day even an hour in this job. There is such undervaluing of this and other key jobs in our society it is truly awful.
By the way I am at the polar opposite, working in the city, my annual bonus is sometimes more than my wife’s salary, this isn’t right, I moan about stress and work long hours but it’s on me, it’s nothing compared to the daily mental toll nurses go through.

Could not agree more Dave with your post and the ones from Regis! MP'S therefore should NOT get more than the paltry 1%. Council tax should not rise more than 1% either!!

No wonder why our NHS feel undervalued and I know some staff who were working 15 hour shifts - for what? A pathetic clap! Maybe for those who disagree with anymore than the 1% - reflect when you are ill and staff can choose to walk away after their eight hour shift!

The whole NHS needs to be looked at! Perhaps those who earn silly money ie over 150K a year should take out private medical protection as opposed to draining the NHS and getting it free..... bit like that lottery winner who won millions and still was claiming his state pension. Greedy b astard!

[Albionic68]

Didn’t all MPs have a pay rise quite recently? An independent review was done to award them the rise? I can’t remember what actually happened in the end. But if they did get it, then this 1% is disgraceful.
Chances of Boris telling those nurses who looked after him during his Covid that they ain’t getting a rise, fat boris chance. Yet we award contracts worth billions to dildo and co and employ a 100 year old former veteran to raise money for the nhs. Slap for carers more like.

An MP's basic salary was £81,932 last year (figure courtesy of the BBC; expenses, allowances and any staffing costs are on top of this).

Their pay increases are worked out using a formula which takes public sector pay increases into account. Using this formula MP's were inline for a £3,000 pay for 2021.

However, this year's prospective pay rise was vetoed last year. I have no idea when they're due another pay review but I am of the opinion that my MP, his wife (also an MP) and his son (yes, also an MP) are on one hell of a screw.

For the record I wouldn't trust my MP to change a lightbulb never mind a surgical dressing.

[boingy]

I had my jab on Friday and pointed to the doctor and said "Get a good pay rise!" and he disagreed with me. He said we are just doing our job and shouldn't be paid more than anyone else. Its fine he said. So there you are. There's always another way of looking at things.
When you do a job for the right reasons, for ethics, its never just about the money.
I'm personally more than happy to see health workers get more money but how do they feel?