Emma – a midwife at a busy central London Trust – tells us.
The government’s pay restrictions are damaging morale at a time when services are really stretched. As a midwife I’m used to working beyond my shift and providing emergency cover. That comes with the job and we’ll always go the extra mile to help patients.
But many of us are tired of being taken for granted. Especially when our pay hasn’t gone up (in real-terms) for seven years.
I have three children. I want to be able to provide them with a decent standard of living. But keeping up with day-to-day costs is getting harder.
NHS staff don’t want special privileges from the government. But we do want our pay to rise in line with the cost of living so that we can keep up with bills and other expenses.
I don’t think that’s an unreasonable thing to ask.
I became a midwife because I want new mums to have the same excellent care that I received when I had kids.
The NHS relies on the dedication and commitment of its staff. We cannot afford to lose more people. Services are too understaffed as it is.
Ministers need to listen to the concerns of frontline workers and give us a fair pay rise.
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