Outraged NHS worker brands 1% pay rise as 'true kick in the teeth'
5 March 2021, 11:29
"It's a true kick in the teeth": NHS worker reacts to 1% pay rise
This NHS worker described the 1% pay rise as a “true kick in the teeth” and told LBC qualified nurses are leaving to earn more working at supermarkets.
Concerns have been raised over the quantity, with mental health minister Nadine Dorries has told LBC the Government cannot afford to give NHS staff in England a pay rise of more than 1%.
Unions have also voiced opposition to the Government's suggestion of a 1% pay rise for NHS workers.
The NHS worker told LBC's Ian Payne: I was there holding people's hands as they were dying.
"We got relocated. We were sent to Covid wards [and were] dealing with people dying. Nothing prepares you for what we've seen.
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"To be getting 1% is just a kick in the teeth. You know [there are] qualified nurses that have left and gone and worked at Aldi because they get paid more.
"And I love my job. I love it so much. I'm quite new at this...It is a true kick in the teeth. It's not even £3.50-a-week for me. I don't even get paid £10-an-hour."
A Government spokesperson has said: "Over one million NHS staff continue to benefit from multi-year pay deals agreed with trade unions, which have delivered a pay rise of over 12% for newly-qualified nurses and will increase junior doctors' pay scales by 8.2%.
"Pay rises in the rest of the public sector will be paused this year due to the challenging economic environment, but we will continue to provide pay rises for NHS workers, on top of a £513 million investment in professional development and increased recruitment.
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"That's with record numbers of doctors and 10,600 more nurses working in our NHS, and with nursing university applications up by over a third.
"The independent pay review bodies will report in late spring and we will consider their recommendations carefully when we receive them."
READ MORE: Nursing applications up by almost a third in England
