Posted 19 May 2021 - 16:54
Posted 19 May 2021 - 16:54
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Boris Johnson defends proposed 1% pay offer after nurse who treated him quits
Prime minister addresses parliament after ICU nurse Jennie McGee leaves NHS
PM addresses parliament after ICU nurse Jennie McGee who cared for him when he was ill with COVID-19 leaves NHS
Prime minister Boris Johnson has defended his treatment of nurses following the resignation of nurse Jenny McGee who cared for him when he was seriously ill with COVID-19 last year.
Prime minister acknowledges huge personal debt to NHS nurses
In answer to a question in the House of Commons about the NHS intensive care nurse’s resignation over the 1% pay offer, the prime minister said: ‘I think the whole House acknowledges our collective debt to the nurses of the NHS, and I certainly acknowledge my own huge personal debt, and that’s why of all the professions in this country in very, very tough times we’ve asked the public sector pay review board to look at an increase in pay for nurses.'
The government has suggested a 1% pay offer for NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts for the 2021-22 pay round to the independent NHS Pay Review Body, which advises ministers on pay, and is currently awaiting its recommendations.
The prime minister also highlighted work being done to increase nurse numbers: ‘I know what a tough year nurses have had, I know how hard it has been on the front line coping with this pandemic. We have done what I think is the most important thing of all and that is to recruit many more nurses.'
Evidence that there is still a need for tens of thousands of nurses
Mr Johnson went on to reference figures from NHS Digital showing an increase of nearly 11,000 nurses and health visitors in the NHS in England in February this year, compared with the same period last year.
However, the country is still missing tens of thousands of nurses, with the latest data from December 2020 showing there were 36, 214 vacancies.
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