10th November 2020

It’s been an exciting week of announcements for NHS staff! After all of our efforts over the last god knows how many months, we’ve been rewarded with a double whammy of delights.

Firstly we’ve been given the gift of an increased nursing ratio, so we now can nurse two intubated patients at once.

Yay.

Then to really put the icing on the cake, we’re told our pay increase over the next two years will be capped at 1%.

Hooray.

What an impressive way to boost morale ready to face the second wave.

It seems this government is intent on completely battering every last shred of resilience out of us. We’ve not got much left to give.

We are tired, we are scared and we are pretty bloody frustrated.

The casual change to regulations on nursing critically ill patients is one that should be worrying the nation. It is now acceptable for the most poorly patients in every hospital to receive 50% less care from their nurse. The word care doesn’t really do it justice, because alongside that devoted attention to basic needs they are highly trained and incredibly well skilled practitioners with nerves of absolute steel. They are basically in control of that patients life, the machines and medications keep them from teetering past the point of no return. These are so complex it takes an incredible amount of knowledge and concentration to manage them competently and safely.

What has been glaringly clear throughout this whole pandemic is the lack of investment in the NHS prior left us shockingly in the shit. There was absolutely no give in the system before covid hit. So the only option left was to redefine safety. The guidance changes to fit the pitiful resources this government can procure, including its workforce. The excuse of us being in a pandemic, so we have to put up and shut up doesn’t wash with me, the decimation of the NHS prior to covid meant we were sent to war with half an army. Investment hasn’t been in us or the NHS during COVID-19, it has been in private companies owned by mates of those in power. The epitome of who you know, not what you know.

BILLIONS of pounds spaffed up the wall on nepotistic contracts. How much experience did any of them have for their roles?

A nurse recently shared her experience, she did her 3 years basic training, after almost 15 years nursing she moved to ITU. She was given a critical care competency framework to complete, there are four parts to it which all require evidence to prove you have the necessary skills. Part one alone took her FOUR YEARS and there was absolutely no change to her salary upon completion. Now she is being asked to do the job of two people, so her salary has effectively halved.

I’m sure she is elated.

I can imagine the pay cap announcement also went down really well. Nice one Boris.

It was also a much needed boost for a colleague who was sat pondering how she was going to pay her MOT this month with only £57 left of her wages. The reality for her, is that she can’t afford to do this job at the moment. Which is soul destroying because she is so incredible at it. it would be a massive loss to our ward, and the NHS as a whole. She is everything you would want from someone looking after you, almost the epitome of care. Like me she joined the ward at the height of the first wave, unlike me she had no experience of the role, never having worked in a healthcare setting before. Despite the many challenges thrown at her over the months, she has managed to plough on and show such kindness throughout.

To take this role she took a pay cut of thousands, moving from her office job to do something she said she had wanted to do for ages. “I just really want to help people” she said back then.

Now she is considering leaving, solely because the job is so grossly underpaid. Another asset lost due to lack of investment.

I doubt a maximum of a 1% increase over the next two years will tempt her to stay.

So whilst we wade on headfirst into the second wave, underprepared and under resourced AGAIN forced to compromise safety not only to our patients, but ourselves. Where are the unions? The Royal College of Nursing peddle their #SafeStaffingSaveLives campaign yet in response to this, they limply offer up a “ we hope this isn’t a long term change”. Brilliant, thanks for that. The various unions can’t seem to unite over the demands for our pay, which leaves us flapping in various directions. There just doesn’t seem to be any coordinated effort to push for tangible change, other than the NHS Workers Say NO campaign.

Working on the #NHSPAY15 campaign has been an absolute game changer for me personally, and has ignited a force in me that our unions should have been fostering. To finally have a voice and for it to be making ripples across the country is so powerful, and so long overdue. The activists in the campaign have all been encouraged to take on a more active role within their unions, I myself have recently begun training become a steward for my local branch of UNISON. After years of feeling they do not represent me with the resulting affect being complete disengagement and disgruntled moaning, which wasn’t the most positive way to force change. There’s that quote “be the change you want to see”. We need to take some ownership of this situation and start pushing the unions, they are allegedly our collective voice so let’s hear them start really shouting for us. Without pressure from members this just won’t happen.

So I implore every healthcare worker to join a union if you haven’t already, and get involved. Find out who your reps and branch leaders are, ask them what are they doing to fight for safer staffing and for a 15% payrise for all workers. Find out when the meetings are, ask to attend and start asking questions. You are entitled to an opinion and deserve answers, I know the hierarchy in the NHS is often intimidating, but you are not alone. I’ve said before we are so good at being an advocate for our patients, now it’s time we advocate for ourselves.

It’s interesting these announcements came out a week or so after temporary laws have been put in place which restrict protesting. Although limiting, this isn’t going to stop us demonstrating in more inventive ways. Find us on Facebook to get involved with the campaign and find updates on planned actions - https://www.facebook.com/groups/314519933024565/?ref=share

I would really encourage you, whether healthcare worker or not, to get active within this campaign. It has been so empowering to meet such incredibly passionate people, who continually inspire me to push for change. We are worth more than 1%. With the billions this government have dished out on dodgy contracts to their mates not only for covid, but for projects like the now even more unnecessary HS2, it isn’t a question of not being able to afford it. The money is there, but it’s just lining the wrong pockets