O/T:- Our magnificent, wonderful, incredible, fantastic NHS

[Elite_Pie]

All in the thread title really. "Our magnificent, wonderful, incredible, fantastic NHS" were the words used by every single government minister for a year now. The were falling over themselves to praise the job done by NHS and care workers. No praise for what they did was too high. The praise was fully justified, because NHS staff in general, many of them on low wages, actually put their lives on the line (and sadly some of them paid the ultimate sacrifice) in fighting this pandemic. So what did this gushing praise and public handclapping mean in the end? It meant their reward for what they put themselves through is an offer of a 1% payrise. I have predicted this would happen many times, but now it has happened it still sickens me to the pit of my stomach. Clap them with cameras rolling outside 10 Downing Street for saving your life one minute, stick two fingers up and slap them in the face the next.

Well done Boris, now you can concentrate on raising funds for your girlfriend's redecoration plans. Priorities or what?

[Ayeayeskipper]

All in the thread title really. "Our magnificent, wonderful, incredible, fantastic NHS" were the words used by every single government minister for a year now. The were falling over themselves to praise the job done by NHS and care workers. No praise for what they did was too high. The praise was fully justified, because NHS staff in general, many of them on low wages, actually put their lives on the line (and sadly some of them paid the ultimate sacrifice) in fighting this pandemic. So what did this gushing praise and public handclapping mean in the end? It meant their reward for what they put themselves through is an offer of a 1% payrise. I have predicted this would happen many times, but now it has happened it still sickens me to the pit of my stomach. Clap them with cameras rolling outside 10 Downing Street for saving your life one minute, stick two fingers up and slap them in the face the next.

Well done Boris, now you can concentrate on raising funds for your girlfriend's redecoration plans. Priorities or what?

i think I might mentioned before that my wife is a nurse. She's gone through sh1t, had covid like me and my lad. She's shielded her elderly parents through all this **** and I pray to god they'll survive. On top of all that, she had to help out ( as much as she could) whilst my mother wasted away with cancer.
Is she happy with 1%...No
Does she understand that the pot is only so big....Yes

[Mapperleypie]

i think I might mentioned before that my wife is a nurse. She's gone through sh1t, had covid like me and my lad. She's shielded her elderly parents through all this **** and I pray to god they'll survive. On top of all that, she had to help out ( as much as she could) whilst my mother wasted away with cancer.
Is she happy with 1%...No
Does she understand that the pot is only so big....Yes

The pot is as big as the government want it to be. It was not this tight when they were handing out dodgy contacts to their mates or giving Cummings a £40k pay rise.

Make no mistake this is a political decision. Your wife and her colleagues deserve to be treated better than this.

[Woodsetts_Pie]

My wife is a retired Mental Health nurse, who went back in March last year when the call came. Our Daughter is just starting out on the same career so is at the lower end of the pay scale, and 2 things come to mind.

As with 90% of all Public Sector/Civil Servants pay, 1% of not a lot is ...err... not a lot.
The government has thrown billions to their mates for spurious and non existent contracts throughout this mess, but that's ok?

[Notts78]

i think I might mentioned before that my wife is a nurse. She's gone through sh1t, had covid like me and my lad. She's shielded her elderly parents through all this **** and I pray to god they'll survive. On top of all that, she had to help out ( as much as she could) whilst my mother wasted away with cancer.
Is she happy with 1%...No
Does she understand that the pot is only so big....Yes

Firstly, sorry to hear about your mum.

Secondly, I am glad that your wife is fairly philosophical about the wages nurses are paid and has an understanding of where that money comes from.

Elite claims many NHS staff are paid poorly. You will know how well your wife is paid or not. In my role I see lots of wage slips and have to assess them. NHS staff are not paid poorly, not if you compare them to the national average. Yes their will be those at the lower end of the spectrum, the likes of cleaners and porters.
The cynic in me thinks that nurses etc chose that profession and should understand that they won’t be on obscene money and that they will have **** shifts. Some will even be at risk to there own health.
Is 1% fair? Maybe not... but it’s 1% more than a lot of people who are on less money.

[Mapperleypie]

Just as a side note the state pension has increased by 2.5%.

[countygump]

No thanks for the half a trillion or so this Gov has spent on propping up the country?

Thought not.

My wife was a nurse and my granddaughter is a nurse, so I understand your point, but there was always going to come a time when the purse strings had to be tightened.

[Elite_Pie]

Elite claims many NHS staff are paid poorly. You will know how well your wife is paid or not. In my role I see lots of wage slips and have to assess them. NHS staff are not paid poorly, not if you compare them to the national average.

Wow! I have read some crass comments on here over the years, but that one takes some beating. The whole point of this topic was about the job NHS workers have done during this pandemic compared to others. There are many minimum wage workers who have suffered, but most of them have been furloughed. It must have hit some hard, but they would have got 80% of their salary for sitting at home. How many of them have literally put their life, and the lives of their loved ones on the line through sheer dedication? If you seriously want to compare the sacrifices NHS staff have made to those on national average wage, you must be shallower than a pool of gnat's piss.

[Elite_Pie]

No thanks for the half a trillion or so this Gov has spent on propping up the country?

That only reinforces my point. The government have magically found many billions of extra pounds, but none of it will go to the people they all praised so constantly.

So gumpy, do you think while all these billions are flying about, a 1% payrise offer to NHS staff is a fair and just reward for their efforts?

[countygump]

That only reinforces my point. The government have magically found many billions of extra pounds, but none of it will go to the people they all praised so constantly.

So gumpy, do you think while all these billions are flying about, a 1% payrise offer to NHS staff is a fair and just reward for their efforts?

That would be a 'no' to the pay rise but I think I already gave reasons as to why I think it was so measly.

My wife was a nurse and my granddaughter is a nurse, so I understand your point, but there was always going to come a time when the purse strings had to be tightened

.

I noticed that the public seem to understand, latest poll ratings show the Tories miles in front of Labour, 13% or so.