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'Nurses Using Foodbanks Now'

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bobbinwales | 09:28 Fri 16th Dec 2022 | News
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Bbc headline today.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-63992959
Well I want them to get abit more than 4% that the pay body come up with but they allready earn more than me and I dont need foodbanks thanks....so 19%...no chance and I don't believe foodbank stories except in exceptional cases like part timer or trainee or someone with big debts

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Many people are like you Bob, but then you are probably fiscally responsible and not one of the extreme cases they find to promote their cause.

The problem with food banks and the like is that if you create a free service it will be used.

And no, I am not saying they shouldn't exist, there will always be people who fall through the net and they are a useful safety net.
Nurses are not poorly paid.

https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/pay-scales-202223

You add in the overtime many work, and they can boost their basic significantly.

Many also do agency work - my first wife was a Sister in an ICU unit and I can remember in the late 90s she worked an agency shift Christmas night and earned about £300 (I can't remember the exact amount after 25 years, but it was significant).

IF some nurses are using foodbanks (a) it is the exception that proves the rule and (b) they aren't managing their money properly.
What you haven't factored in is the cost of living a commutable distance from work, either living near to hospitals. Mostly city centre. Or paying fares or fuel to live further out. I agree even when I left the profession pay wasn't really the issue and there was a lot of opportunity to boost earnings with overtime but the real problems are the staff shortages, the increase in responsibilities on mostly quite young shoulders at too early a s tage in their careers and unrealistic expectations from service users. What you have is a group who are burning out far more rapidly than in years gone by. Trying to reach targets that are not in the patient interest. In that situation it's easy to say more money would make the problems go away... It won't.

Another thing is that it's possible the nurse in the family is the breadwinner, single mums or with a partner who might still be in higher ed, or building their own career at a fairly low level. We don't all marry dashing rich surgeons like in the novels.
Totally with you Bob. It's making me see red! Agree with both above posts. As for food banks.......
Watching the BBC news this morning there was a striking nurse with 2 degrees who now was a matron. She complained that she was only £100 cash better off. She did not qualify her point with p.w/p.m/p.a. I was annoyed by that.

On the other hand I was extremely miffed to read last week that a Health Authority had paid £5,000+ for a single shift by an agency doctor and another had paid £3,000 - £4,000 for an agency nurse for a single shift.
Next we will have the Gov trying to bring in legislation to ban strikes
//but the real problems are the staff shortages,//

Well increasing salaries by 19% isnt going to help that in the slightest is it, in fact it will probably make it worse.

Yes, I know, the NHS is badly managed and wastes money terribly but that isnt going to change either due to those that treat the NHS like a religion.
I agree about the staffing levels Rowan, but how is a huge pay rise going to solve that problem?? Surely it will make it worse?
I am afraid as a support worker on minimum wage I don't have any sympathy with strikes. I have struggled but still manage and no way would I leave my clients without support.
Snap ymf
//On the other hand I was extremely miffed to read last week that a Health Authority had paid £5,000+ for a single shift by an agency doctor and another had paid £3,000 - £4,000 for an agency nurse for a single shift.//

Again extremes. Be very careful of what the media feed you. One of my daughters is an Agency doctor, she is very well paid but nothing like that. These cases are likely to be for staff with very specialist skills that are needed very quickly.
Go on then, what's "nothing like that" in actuality?
None of your business.

If you really want to know I'm sure circa figures are available on some search engine.

She is successful, all my kids are and I am very proud of them.
"What you haven't factored in is the cost of living a commutable distance from work..."

That's the same issue the majority of workers have, so isn't relevant.

I think we all know the NHS is poorly managed, and is extremely wasteful, but let's face it, we could give the NHS the whole of the UK tax-take, and they'd still be whining it wasn't enough - it never is; unless it's properly managed, we stop using the NHS to give women penises and men vaginas, and it's used for what it's meant to be used for, there'll always be a problem.

It is far from the envy of the world.

A pay demand of 19% is utterly absurd - granted that's their opening gambit and it'll never be agreed, but to have the brass balls to demand this much in the current climate (or any climate), and to strike, means they're not quite the angels we're led to believe they are.
These inflation-busting pay rises various sectors are asking for....

I take it they realise inflation will reduce - it's only a matter of time - and when it does all it means is they've got a thumping big pay rise.
A senior nurse I know left the NHS and became an agency nurse and doubled her salary. She mainly works in the same hospital doing the same job! Recently sold her property and bought new very expensive house.

Oh bog, you're teasing us with tales of riches and success but no detail.

I'm a part-time astronaut y'know, that's why I can be on here. Full-timers aren't so lucky.
A huge pay rise would increase recruitment , might even prompt some to return. But. There will be overtime restrictions, and staffing cuts to meet budget targets. I would rather see more money paid to retain and recruit in the care sector, as this would lead to earlier discharges,and potentially a reduction in the most soul destroying part of the job. I.e caring for patients who don't need a hospital bed who you see deteriorating due to being in the wrong environment.
I agree with Deskdiary 100%. I don't think I can add to that.
//IF some nurses are using foodbanks (a) it is the exception that proves the rule and (b) they aren't managing their money properly.//

... and (c) Using foodbanks to prove a political point, in an effort to lever sympathy out of a sick and tired population.

I have been into Hospital 3 times this year, for serious life threatening surgery. There were lots of young, far from home, Indian nurses, both male and female, and junior technicians in Xray and ct scanning units. They were all unfailingly fastidious, attentive, pristine in personal presentation, and reassuring to have in attendance. This was not always the case with the "local" nursing staff. The Indian nurses did not begin their shifts with a meeting to discuss the revelries or complaints about the night before or their days off, did not tend to slope off early to make a quick getaway, or have tattoos proudly on display. I have not seen any of the young Indian medics in the deliberately emotive picket line "news" footage and I warrant that they are not using food banks to prove a false point either. Why are the nursing staff even assembling picket lines? It is not to prevent strike breakers disrupting their over reach stance is it?

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