Something For Nothing and NO Choice in the Matter
What value do you put on your health or even on your life ? What value do you put on the lives of your loved ones?
What value do you put on your health or even on your life ? What value do you put on the lives of your loved ones ?
Surely there isn’t one is there? So why is the government so disagreeable about the Nurses Strike.
When people in the non-public sector strike, the union agree that everyone should walk out and the whole workforce withdraw their labour.
When nurses strike it is not that easy, they can not just walk out the door as there is too much to consider. Some members of the nursing workforce were derogated to work to continue the safe care of the patients. Those nurses who were derogated to work are allowed to wear badges to indicate their support of the strike. Who else would ensure the workplace is covered during a strike due to their conscience ?
Now the government are racing to bring forth plans to enforce minimum service levels, which would leave healthcare workers forced to work and unable to strike for fear of being fired. How is this fair ? This enforcement would be to protect lives, but what about the human rights of Nurses, do they not count.
The Nursing situation over the last ten years has been getting worse, with a shortage of staff, a shortage of materials, longer hours and more bureaucratic boxes to tick when on shift. The demands placed on a nurse to deliver safe care, with all these issues has been tough. As someone who has worked as a nurse in the NHS for many years, these demands have certainly taken their toll on many nurses, including myself.
The Covid 19 Pandemic hit, and the nursing staff really felt the pinch. Absence from work in the NHS, increased due to Stress, Depression, Anxiety and Exhaustion. Nursing Staff had been working tirelessly to keep going even through the toughest of times. And for what …….
Wearing PPE all day every day, working more shifts and even longer hours than normal, to cover those staff that went down with Covid 19. Worn out by the constant battle to keep ahead of this virus. Family members unable to come in and help care for loved ones. Not enough Staff and harsh conditions, no wonder why Nursing Staff were hit hard, but no matter what they kept going until they dropped, some of them even dying for their job, over 300 nurses according to The Nursing Times (2021).
So now the Pandemic is over, what now. Well Nurses have had enough! Underpaid and undervalued is their cry. They just want to be recognised and valued. Yet the government refuse to see it, they see the “demands” (fair rights) as unaffordable. Steve Barclay ( Health Secretary) said nurses should work harder for a wage rise. I would like to see him do a full shift in a hospital A & E or anywhere else for that matter. Nursing staff are 14% behind the national average of wage increase in line with inflation. That is after a 3% wage rise was given in 2022.
Without fair pay and recognition, nurses will keep leaving in droves with dire consequences for the patients, putting more strain on an already stretched Health Care System.
The government can’t force Nurses stay, so why should they be able to enforce them not to strike. Is it not a human right to free will and to make your own choices in life. So, it should be a free choice to strike or not. Shouldn’t it ??
What do you think? Email: Nursing@upccambridge.co.uk
