Andrew Bromhall, Retired NHS worker
After two years of pandemic, and many years of savage Tory cuts and underfunding, the NHS in England has announced an extension to its reservists scheme.
The scheme, a brainchild of Tory MP Alan Mak, asks volunteers to work for 30 days a year in a variety of NHS roles, including on the frontline, to prop up the ailing health service.
Loyal NHS workers have faced unprecedented levels of stress and vastly increased workloads over the last two years. Staff have been leaving the NHS at a rate of over 400 a week during this period. But many of us ex-health workers are being asked to make further sacrifices, such as coming out of retirement to volunteer in the beleaguered service!
The roles on offer are for both qualified and non-qualified staff. And it is stated on the government website that ‘full training’ will be provided – although no details are given.
Rather than looking for quick fixes and asking its staff to make further sacrifices, the government should be investing in the future of the NHS. This includes funding a proper recruitment programme that includes: scrapping training fees, re-establishing training bursaries, and an inflation-busting pay rise for NHS staff, not the paltry 3% the Tories have offered.
