During a statement in the House, I asked the Health Secretary:
On Thursday 19 May, I and a group of south London MPs met south London nurses from the Royal College of Nursing. They told us that they are tired. They told us that they are fed up. They told us that they are having to use food banks. They told us that they are seeing their salaries squeezed by the cost of living. They told us that they face bullying, intimidation and abuse at work. This was coming from staff members who work in our hospitals, including at St Thomas’s Hospital, in my constituency, which I know the Secretary of State has visited on many occasions.
There is a big gap—an omission—around this leadership issue in social care. We have big retention issues. There are more than 9,000 vacancies. Does the Secretary of State have a plan to address that big omission in health and social care, including retaining the people we need on the frontline?
The Health Secretary responded:
The short answer is that, yes, the hon. Lady is right to talk about the importance of retaining and recruiting more nurses. When it comes to nurses’ pay, she will know that we gave a 3% rise last year when there was a freeze for the public sector workforce generally. This year, we will be listening carefully to what the independent recommendation is.
You can see my question below:
Today the Health Secretary reported on yet another review into #NHS staffing.
Frontline staff save lives every day. But we have known for years that they need proper welfare, proper pay and proper workplace rights. @UNISON_GSTT @RCN_ISEL
My question to @sajidjavid: pic.twitter.com/bHhdyqeJlN
— Florence Eshalomi MP (@FloEshalomi) June 8, 2022
