We must not forget the frontline NHS
workers
Pay rise, Procure PPE and Protect
Care Homes
Dr. Mozammel Haque
Give pay rise of the frontline NHS and Care Home workers;
protect social care and care homes, procure PPE and recognise and reward the
unsung heroes of Frontline NHS and care homes workers – these are the voices
and concerns raised in the debate on Health and Social Care Workers: Recognise
and Reward in the House of Commons on Thursday, 25th of June 2020.
Parliamentarians raised the following issues and concerns and suggested their
opinions and viewpoints.
People in NHS and care System
are properly
rewarded, properly recognised
and protected
Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali said, “It
has been said many times, but we should never tire of saying that our NHS and
care workers are true heroes and that we are incredibly grateful for their
skill, dedication, selflessness and sacrifice. We came out on Thursday evenings
to applaud them; now it is time to build a system that rewards them with more
than applause. That is why it is important that the Government put their money
where their mouth is and start to recognise them, as hundreds of thousands of
people in each of these petitions have called for.”
She also mentioned, “After a decade of austerity, the NHS
and social care system is on its knees. The Government were already missing
A&E targets as far back as 2015. We know that the NHS has vacancies of
100,000 and that NHS trusts are £1.23 billion in deficit, which needs to be
addressed quickly so that they can get on with the job of protecting us. Then
there is the mental health crisis.”
Speaking about the economy of NHS and care system, MP
Rushanara Ali said, “Across the NHS and care system, there is the scourge of
low pay. Unison predicts that we will need another 1 million extra careworkers
by 2025. It is vital that we learn the lessons now and ensure that we have a
resilient, well-resourced, effective NHS, where people are properly rewarded
and have their skills and expertise recognised, rather than being treated
shoddily, which is what we have seen.”
Bethnal Green MP Ali also said, “We also need the
Government to ensure that junior doctors are properly rewarded. The
Government’s behaviour in recent years has been appalling, yet the doctors,
nurses and carers have been the people on the frontline, saving people’s lives
and protecting us. We also know that black, Asian and minority ethnic NHS and
care workers have had the highest death rate, yet the Government have been
inadequate in protecting them. To be frank, the Government have treated them
like cannon fodder and the fact that they do not have proper recommendations
for those workers is scandalous. They need to get a grip before more lives are
lost.”
Rushanara Ali MP also said, “If the Minister for Care
thinks that health and care workers should be protected, she should act instead
of saying appalling things about them. I hope she will apologise for the
remarks she made recently about care staff. The point is that we need to ensure
that, when the crisis eases, this Government do not forget the sacrifice and
commitments that people in the NHS and care system have made, and that they act
to ensure those people are properly rewarded, properly recognised and
protected.”
Give Support of Pay Rise to NHS
Healthcare workers
Labour MP for Erith and Thamesmead, Abena Oppong-Asare,
started her speech with pay increase and concluded with pay rise for the NHS
Healthcare workers. Labour MP Abena spoke about pay increase. She said, “I
speak today in favour of a pay increase for NHS healthcare workers. More than
500 constituents have signed the petition calling on the Government to recognise
the hard work and sacrifice of healthcare workers with a pay increase. I
completely agree that those working in the health and social care sector
deserve a pay increase, not only as a recognition of their hard work during the
crisis, but as a necessary step towards ensuring their future wellbeing.”
“For years, this Government have stood by as our NHS and
care staff have given their all to provide a great healthcare service while
their families fall further into poverty. In 2018, we saw a rise in the number
of nurses using food banks, with one study finding that 38% of nurses struggle
to buy food and that 50.5% had considered quitting their profession because of
financial difficulties. More than half of all care workers are paid less than
the real living wage and these workers are four times more likely to be on a
zero-hours contract than the average worker.,” she said.
Abena Oppong-Asare MP for Erith and Thamesmead also
mentioned, “This pay rise is not just about rewarding people for their hard
work; it is about recognising the real and negative impact that low pay has had
on our health and social care workers. Some 15% of workers in low-quality,
low-paid jobs say that they have poor-quality health, which compares with a
figure of 7% for those in good working environments. Covid-19 has thrived on
inequality, with people in the poorest parts of England twice as likely to die
from covid-19. Perhaps there is some correlation between that fact and the fact
that our poorly paid social care workers are almost twice as likely to die from
covid-19. Ensuring that health and social care staff work in a high-quality and
well-paid environment benefits us all.”
Abena Oppong-Asare MP for Erith and Thamesmead concluded, “Today,
I am asking the Government to show all the hard-working NHS and social care
staff in Erith and Thamesmead, and across the UK, the support they deserve and
to give them this much-needed pay rise.
Unsung Heroes of Our NHS
Labour MP for Pontypridd, Alex Davies-Jones said, “I rise
to speak on behalf of the 434 residents in the Pontypridd constituency who have
signed the petitions relating to the recognition and reward of health and
social care workers. It is clear that the creation of the NHS is undoubtedly
the Labour party’s greatest ever achievement and one which I will always
personally champion. I hope colleagues on all Benches will indulge me as I also
use today’s debate to celebrate the 20th birthday of NHS Direct Wales, which is
taking place this week.”
Speaking about the unsung heroes of the NHS, Pontypridd MP
Alex mentioned, “It is all too easy to reduce the NHS workforce to doctors and
nurses, but given that there are around 400 different job roles in our NHS, it
is important that all NHS staff are given the credit they deserve for their
incredible work all year round. Among many others, the porters, cleaners,
caterers, healthcare assistants, allied health professionals and the many
invaluable volunteers who give up their free time truly are the unsung heroes
of our NHS. The coronavirus pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to truly
show our thanks and appreciation. Call me old-fashioned, but I am not sure that
a handclap or a medal quite cuts it. I wonder whether the Minister would be
satisfied with a handclap or a pat on the back instead of receiving her
additional ministerial salary—something tells me the answer is no.
Alex Davies-Jones said, “Thanks to the Welsh Labour
Government, social care and domiciliary care workers in Wales, including agency
workers, and support staff in care homes such as kitchen workers and cleaners
will soon receive a diolch or thank-you payment of up to £500—a payment that
will be available to 64,600 care home workers and domiciliary care workers
throughout Wales. That comes after the Welsh Labour Government have already
pledged to commit an incredible £40 million of extra funding for adult social
care services, to help meet the extra costs associated with the response to the
pandemic.”
“Clearly, that payment is a reward in recognition of the
unprecedented circumstances and strain that have been placed on all our NHS
staff across the Union, from Pontypridd in south Wales to Perth in Scotland. It
is even clearer to me that this payment should be exempt from income tax and
national insurance contributions—something that the Welsh Labour First Minister
and colleagues in the House have been calling for,” said Alex MP for Pontypridd
and added, “So far, Her Majesty’s Treasury has point-blank refused—talk about a
kick in the teeth for workers who have literally put their lives on the line to
keep us all safe. NHS workers in Pontypridd and throughout Wales deserve
better.”
Pathetic Pictures of Care Homes
SNP for North Ayrshire and Arran, Patricia Gibson said, “As
of 1 April, the Scottish Government gave an immediate 3.3% pay rise to social
care workers and are in the process of establishing a top-up fund for social
care workers who contract covid-19 in the course of their duties. Does the hon.
Lady agree that that kind of action should be replicated across the UK?”
“Our care homes and their elderly and vulnerable residents
have painfully borne the brunt of this crisis. More than 16,000 people have
died from covid-19 in care homes, almost a third of all fatalities. Far from
the Government wrapping a protective ring around care homes, in the early days
of this crisis they were left exposed, without adequate PPE or testing for
staff despite their desperate pleas. The human cost of this failure is
harrowing,” mentioned Patricia Gibson.
Talking about the pathetic picture of the care homes, she
mentioned, “The crisis has well and truly exposed how neglected our care system
has become. Too many staff are low paid and on insecure contracts; too many
have had to make choices between risking people’s lives, including their own,
or going without pay. Many carers do not receive even the national minimum wage
because they are not paid for travel or sleep time.”
Frontline Service Award
Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham said, “We should have a
frontline service award of a daily allowance during this crisis, but beyond
that, this is not the time for a pay freeze. Negotiations on public sector pay
must reflect the service and sacrifice that many on the frontline have made for
us and our loved ones.”
“In social care, many do not work in the public sector. Two
million people in care jobs are largely on the minimum wage. Half are on
zero-hours contracts, yet they are undertaking highly skilled work, taking care
of the most vulnerable and providing intimate care. They are often not paid
benefits or for travel time, which can be significant in London. It is possible
to earn more money stacking shelves in Tesco,” mentioned Munira Wilson and
added, “It is important to recognise that they have very few career prospects
and little training. The pay differential between careworkers with less than a
year of experience and those with more than 20 years’ experience has now
reduced to just 15p an hour. That is because of the funding crisis in social
care, which is keeping those wages down. The case for ensuring that our
careworkers are at the very least paid the real living wage is overwhelming and
a moral imperative.”
“In the longer term, to tackle the workforce crisis and put
social care on an equal footing with the NHS, pay scales must be reviewed and
ideally aligned with the NHS, but that obviously needs to go hand in hand with
tackling the long-term funding crisis in social care. Those reforms are well
overdue,” said Liberal Democrats for Twickenham, Munira Wilson..
Munira Wilson MP
mentioned, “We know there is a huge number of migrant workers in social
care and in the NHS. The figure is one in seven in the NHS and one in six in
the care workforce. We on the Liberal Democrat Benches have argued through the
crisis that the cruel policy of no recourse to public funds must be suspended.
That is particularly relevant for those on the frontline who may be reticent to
take time off or self-isolate because they are only eligible for statutory sick
pay, which, frankly, is not enough to live on.”
Munira Wilson pleaded for those workers to grant them
indefinite leave to remain and said, “ A number of other benefits are not
available to them, but, most importantly, when people have put their lives on
the line for us and our loved ones, we must recognise those workers by granting
them indefinite leave to remain. A visa extension is not enough. It is not
enough to just take their service and say, “Bye bye. Thank you very much.” We
have a moral responsibility to allow them to stay.”
Labour MP for Gower Tonia Antoniazzi commended the Welsh
Labour Government who recognised the efforts of care workers in Wales during
covid by paying them £500 more? Many people could benefit from that. She
calling for the Government not to make them pay tax on that £500?
Given the shortage of PPE and with the risk of a possible
second wave of covid later in the year, Rushanara Ali said, “the Government
need to step up and make sure that care workers get not only the support and
resources they need, but proper PPE in preparation for what could be a very
difficult winter?”
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