DEBATE: Should NHS staff be given a pay rise?

Anthony Johnson, a nurse and an organiser with Nurses United, says YES.

The Covid crisis has shown like never before just how central the NHS is to everyone’s wellbeing and safety. From our cleaners to our GPs, the entire team is essential. 

And if we don’t pay people fairly, they will be forced to find other work.

Take nurses like me for example. There’s an unprecedented number of vacancies for nursing staff as we enter the second wave, and this should ring a massive alarm bell first and foremost for patient safety. Studies have shown that the number of graduate nurses directly impacts a patient’s chance of survival. 

This government has cut a fifth of the average nurse’s pay since 2010. This has driven nurses out of jobs we love, and thousands have been forced to rely on foodbanks because they can’t afford to feed themselves. 

This is not even about saving money. If we don’t pay NHS workers a fair wage, we end up paying more through expensive private agency costs to plug shortages.

Clapping for carers was a touching expression of admiration during the first lockdown, but that appreciation won’t pay our rent or feed our families. NHS workers need a restorative 15 per cent pay rise so that we are able to continue to care for the nation’s health.

Chris Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says NO.

Covid-19, and our response to it, reduced GDP by 9.2 per cent between February and August. It will fall further thanks to the second lockdown. Tax revenues are £43bn lower than in the same period last year, and this shortfall will only grow larger. 

If UK Plc were a real company, it would be a brave employee indeed who asked for a raise.

It has undoubtedly been a difficult and stressful year for frontline medics, but it has hardly been a picnic for the rest of us. We have all sacrificed our liberty. Many of us have taken a pay cut and a significant number will lose our jobs altogether, largely thanks to a lockdown designed to “protect the NHS”. 

The hard fact is that this crisis will set the economy back by about a decade. The public sector can only spend what the private sector provides. 

When the wealth-creating part of the economy shrinks, the wealth-consuming part has to tighten its belt. We are all in this together, are we not?

Main image credit: Getty