'Clapping won't pay the bills': Dorchester protest over NHS pay

NHS workers are holding a protest in Dorchester today over wages.

A national campaign group - “NHS workers say NO” - together with Unite the Union, is calling for a pay rise of 15 per cent or £3,000 for all health workers, who have experienced a 20 per cent fall in real pay since 2010.

'Low Pay, No Way', the group organising this morning at the War Memorial in Dorchester, say they are shocked MP's are planned a pay rise of £3,360 while health workers get nothing.

NHS dietitian and Dorset campaigner Lynne Hubbard said:

"Health staff are shocked and angry to hear that while we get nothing, MPs are to be awarded a pay rise of £3,360 a year - that's on top of a basic salary of £81,932 and before their expenses for travel and the £10,000 they can claim for working from home during the pandemic.

"In the last 10 years the pay gap between MPs and health workers has really grown. MPs have had an increase of over £15,000, even before the latest increase. A nurse at the top of the middle grade, Band 5, has seen less than a fifth of that. The figures speak for themselves.

"As we approach a second wave, health workers don't feel valued by the government and many fear going to the front line again."

Amnesty International has reported that more than 640 health workers have died during the pandemic in the UK - the highest total in Europe. A poll in July of this year found that one in three nurses are considering leaving the profession and that a third of newly qualified nurses leave the profession within two years.

Lynne Hubbard said:

"Pay and conditions are a real issue and the government needs to listen. Clapping won't pay the bills, Boris."

NHS workers will be holding a symbolic, socially-distanced protest in Dorchester at 11am, at the War Memorial, South Street, on Saturday 17.