NHS staff have received a below-inflation pay rise.

This essentially means that NHS staff now have a George Cross that tells us we’re essential to the lifeblood of this country, and a paycheck that tells us that we’re not.

Over 1,500 health and social care staff have died of Covid-19 in England and Wales during the pandemic, according to ONS figures released in July last year. This number has likely risen since then. Thousands more have been absent from work for prolonged periods of time due to long Covid.

The impacts on our patients are clear: ambulance waits are at record highs, GP services are stretched, while the Royal College of Emergency has described how extended A&E wait times are translating directly into excess deaths.

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It’s been announced by Sajid Javid that hospitals will no longer provide free car parking to the very staff who have tirelessly kept the NHS running for the past two years. Staff are essentially being made to pay this extra tax for car parking in order to prop up NHS Trusts as the government are not prepared to fund it properly. What’s worse, is that most parking spaces are run by private companies, despite being on NHS trust property, resulting in nonsensical profiteering.

This represents another huge blow to the morale and welfare of NHS workers.

Bringing a car to work is a necessity for many – not only for personal safety, but because of out of hours working and because some staff, such as doctors, are moved between hospitals far from home (and public transport) every few months.

The Doctors’ Association UK and Dr Meenal Viz, say enough is enough. We have launched a campaign supported by Socialist NHS, EveryDoctor, Keep Our NHS Public, Nursing Notes and Project S NHS – On behalf of all healthcare workers, to remove this additional tax on those who saved so many lives and continue to fight tirelessly for our NHS.

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