NHS Update

Rosena Allin-Khan Excerpts

Wednesday 21st July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)]

I declare an interest as an A&E frontline doctor who is working in our NHS.

The contempt that the Government have for the House is unacceptable. I had advance sight of the statement only a few minutes ago. Once again, the Government have had to row back on a shoddy, ill-thought-through position, with their 1% pay rise—a real-terms pay cut—rejected by the independent pay body. What do they do? Nothing. Less than an hour ago, there were competing briefings on what the deal was going to be, but it turned out to be nothing. Our NHS staff deserve better than this. They have worked incredibly hard throughout the pandemic, and their personal sacrifice is astounding. Their hard work never stops, and that is not without consequences. Work-related stress has increased by nearly 10%, and mental health is consistently the most reported reason for staff absence in the NHS, accounting for approximately half a million days lost every single month.

Those issues preceded the pandemic, but the increased pressure, intensity and trauma experienced by staff has taken its toll. Reports published in January found that nearly half of frontline NHS staff were suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and severe depression, with many drinking to numb the pain. It is hardly a surprise that a third of staff are considering leaving their job. With vacancies throughout the health service, retaining staff is absolutely vital, especially when the NHS is embarking on a vaccine booster campaign, tackling the coming wave of coronavirus hospitalisations, treating the growing number of long covid cases, and dealing with the ever-mounting backlog.

That is why a fair pay rise and conditions are important. It is not just a moral imperative—it is also about the future functioning of our NHS. By refusing to offer a pay rise, the Government risk workers leaving the health service, creating more vacancies, shortfalls in shifts and increased workloads for the staff who remain. It makes recruitment much harder, with huge gaps in crucial areas such as nursing. It makes the Government’s already insufficient pledge to recruit 50,000 more nurses by 2024 simply impossible. Healthcare staff are rightly angry that they have been treated in this way. We recognise that unions want to consult their members on all proposals, and we support them in that. The fact that even the unions have been kept in the dark is utterly unacceptable.

After the year we have had, there should not be so many unanswered questions, so I ask the Minister: is this really fair on NHS staff who have had to bury their colleagues, as well as their families? Is this really fair on NHS staff who have been sent like “lambs to the slaughter”, without appropriate personal protective equipment for work throughout the pandemic—I am using their words. Is this really fair on NHS staff who are sent to support us and our families, ill-equipped and with inappropriate PPE? Is this fair, when NHS staff nursed our loved ones when they died alone? Is this fair, when staff are exhausted and there is still no end in sight. Minister, this is quite simply an insult of the highest order. After everything our NHS staff have done for us, when will the Government finally make them feel valued and offer them something more than claps?

A statement on the NHS should have concrete plans on how the Government will support the NHS in tackling the summer crisis. If the Minister is so sure that she understands NHS staff and their pressures and workloads, I invite her to do a shift with me on the A&E frontline—she can shadow me for once.