‘Staff have been treated like cannon fodder’: NHS bosses issue stark warning on future of health service
Hundreds of senior NHS managers have voiced their fears for the future of the health service amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis without a significant pay rise to help retain staff on the frontline.
A survey of more than 800 senior NHS managers has revealed the extreme pressure some have been working under, with many working 20 or more hours of unpaid extra hours each week.
More than 90 per cent backed a significant pay rise for NHS staff to try and head off a feared exodus of nurses, doctors and other staff leaving the NHS after the pandemic. This would help shore up the service as it faces the daunting task of tackling record waiting lists now totalling 4.7 million patients.
Some managers said that the government’s planned 1 per cent pay rise was an “insult” and made them feel “worthless”, in responses to the survey, run by the Managers in Partnership union.
Another described NHS staff as being treated like “cannon fodder” during the crisis.
Source: The Independent, 16 April 2021