Ghost Gerbil
The largest UK nursing union has announced strike dates for December. A few points to keep in mind:
1. There are 46,000 unfilled nurse posts in the NHS, this leads to thousands of cancellations, delays and risks to patients.
2. There are 758,000 nurses and midwives on the UK register. Enough to fill all vacancies. There is no ‘nurse shortage’. Understaffing is a choice.
#NHSnurses
Nov 25, 2022 at 8:14amWeb
Show threadGhost GerbilNov 25, 2022
3. Most nurses are stuck on NHS pay band 5 regardless of experience or specialist training. Midwives and chaplains are band 6. Band 6 nurse vacancies always attract multiple applicants but they are rationed. Why?
4. The NHS happily pays double or triple for insourced casual nurses employed by private companies. These are all former or part-time NHS staff who have been squeezed out by pay. There is no shortage of them.
Show threadGhost GerbilNov 25, 2022
5. All NHS employers are allowed to add premia to pay to fill shortage posts. They almost never do this. Understaffing is a choice.
6. NHS employers frequently ban overtime to control costs, instead offering only lower ‘bank’ pay rates. Understaffing is a choice.
7. NHS employers collude regionally to keep bank-rates low, despite understaffing. Understaffing is a choice.
Show threadGhost GerbilNov 25, 2022
8. Remember those massive temporary hospitals they built during the pandemic? They were never staffed. Never even advertised vacancies. Understaffing is a choice.