Nurses are struggling – our strike has been a long time coming
After the Royal College of Nursing announced that its members would strike for the first time over the fortnight before Christmas, Matt Smith, an advanced nurse practitioner in a children’s intensive care unit in London, shares why he is planning to stop work.
I never thought as a nurse I would go on strike, but the mistreatment of the UK’s healthcare workers over the last decade means this is now our only option. The nurses’ strike has been a long time coming.
I have worked in London hospitals since 2004 and within this time my pay has not kept up with inflation. With pay stagnating, more staff are leaving the NHS, which puts more pressure on those who are staying. The work is more stressful and tiring, nurses are having to work extra shifts on their days off to be able to pay their bills and then becoming sick because of it.
Nurses are becoming burnt out and there’s no reward for it. You’re just tired the whole time – some days I come into work dreading what it’s going to be like. We’re run down, and morale is low.
It’s also becoming very hard to retain staff. The ward I work on had a lot of European nurses; since Brexit we have had a vast reduction – a lot have left the UK. Others leave for other professions. When health workers can get paid more working in a shop, with a better work-life balance, then the system is clearly broken.
Patient safety is risked on a daily basis. You see it with patients who are stuck in ambulances and not getting appropriate treatment. Or those stuck in the hospital longer, getting complications.
Nurses are struggling. When I started, there was never any talk about food banks. Now you have hospitals setting them up because staff can’t afford to buy essentials. This has gotten worse, especially now with the cost of living crisis. I can’t afford to live near the hospital, and [this year] travel in London went up by 4-5%. Then there’s the rising cost of food, petrol, energy.
The pay award this year was laughable. As a senior nurse, mine was 1.8%, far below the current level of inflation. It’s a pay cut. In the last 10 years we’ve had a 20% loss in earnings. We’re not asking for a pay rise – we’re asking for pay restoration to bring us back to where pay had been. Awarding 5% above inflation will go some way to correcting the historical pay cuts we have endured over the last decade with the Conservative austerity measures previously and now the cost of living crisis.
I went into nursing to look after people, and striking was something I never thought I’d be doing. But we’re at the point now where it’s the last thing we can do. Patients are put at risk on a daily basis and without something changing it’s just going to get worse. The NHS is on the brink.
We know we’re not the only ones suffering and we acknowledge that some people will find what we are asking for upsetting. It’s not about getting a rise, it’s about restoring pay. It’s about keeping the NHS working.
No thoughts on “Nurses are struggling – our strike has been a long time coming”
Articles - Most Read
- Home
- LIVER DIS-EASE AND GALL BLADDER DIS-EASE
- Contacts
- African Wholistics - Medicines, Machines and Ignorance
- African Holistics - Seduced by Ignorance and Research
- African Wholistics -The Overlooked Revolution
- The Children of the Sun-3
- Kidney Stones-African Holistic Health
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-3
- 'Tortured' and shackled pupils freed from Nigerian Islamic school
- The Serpent and the RainBow-The Jaguar - 2
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-2
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-4
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-5
- King Leopold's Ghost - Introduction
- African Wholistics - Medicine
- Menopause
- PART ONE: DIS-EASE TREATMENT AND HEALTH-6
- The Mystery System
- The Black Pharaohs Nubian Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
Who's On Line?
We have 57 guests and no members online
Ad Agency Remote
Articles - Latest
- Do Yams Have Carbohydrates?
- Cardiac-a-vest! Remarkable garment could save lives by predicting heart attack risk
- Inflammation-Busting Foods: A Review by Nutrition Professionals
- Dermatologist's insight on shower frequency without harming skin
- Meat is crucial for human health, scientists warn
- How dangerous are interactions between herbal medicines and prescribed drugs?
- The definitive guide to BMI, and how much you should really pay attention to it
- The nightly ritual that could improve memory and brain health, according to scientists
- Hyacinth Bean: How Nutritionists Rate Its Nutrients, Health Effects, And More
- Top healthiest fruits with anti-inflammatory properties
- Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms: How to spot the signs in your feet
- Dehydration may be as bad 'as smoking' for veins - how much water you need to avoid stroke
- Winter Squash: A Superfood Or Not? Nutrition Professionals Weigh In, With Serving Tips And Health Risks
- Why The Nutrition Professionals Love Winter Melon, Nutritional Benefits And Serving Size Guidelines
- Lesser-known lung cancer symptom in arm or shoulder that can't be ignored
- HIV breakthrough as new technology removes all traces of virus from infected cells
- Seven fruits for diabetics to avoid that can increase blood sugar spike risk
- Top 7 Uses and Benefits of Dead Nettle Plants
- 6 physical symptoms of anxiety you shouldn’t ignore, according to experts