Ryan Lyddall, Surrey Socialist Party
At the start of this year, Rishi Sunak announced his five key priorities as Prime Minister, one of which was to reduce NHS waiting lists. And yet eight months into the year, the number of people waiting to start routine hospital treatment has reached a new record high, with 7.6 million people waiting to start treatment at the end of July.
Of course, it isn’t surprising that the NHS is suffering under a Tory government; if it wasn’t for a fear of losing support they would have privatised it decades ago. But to add insult to injury, Sunak then went on to blame striking healthcare workers for the record-high waiting lists – attempting to push the narrative that healthcare workers, and all striking workers, are greedy and just want more money. Pay is of course a part of these disputes, but they are about more than just pay.
Due to years of cuts, the NHS has been struggling with inadequate staffing levels and staff burnout. People weren’t receiving the care they needed before the strikes started and that is, in part, why staff took strike action. They want to be given the adequate conditions to do their job and save people’s lives – and the issue of pay factors into this. In 2021, nurses were paid up to 32% less than they were a decade ago, with inflation. And that’s before the high inflation that’s hit workers’ pay hard this past year.
Many healthcare workers have to work overtime or take on second jobs, which can make them overly tired and leave the profession. This means both staff and patients suffer.
The NHS isn’t in crisis because of the strikes, it was in crisis long before the strikes began. We support workers striking for fair pay and to kick private profit out of our health service. Take the wealth out of the hands of the super-rich to give health workers decent wages and conditions, and give us all the healthcare we deserve.
