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Saturday 6 March 2021

What happened to a kick in the teeth?



Large numbers of staff could leave nursing when the pandemic is over after being offered a 1% pay rise, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned.

Patricia Marquis from the RCN told Times Radio it made staff in England feel they were not valued and would worsen the NHS's recruitment issues...

Ms Marquis, south-east regional director of the RCN, said "significant numbers" of nurses were planning to leave and "this slap in the face from the government really has just reinforced their belief that they are not valued by either the government or perhaps some of the public in the way they would want to be".

A slap in the face eh? More genteel than a kick in the teeth I suppose.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That;s the NHS "management" all over. The top-heavy self-serving bureaucracy has been allowed to forget why it exists, now it's pissing on front line staff. Don't worry, though, those up the tree will be fine . . .

Sam Vega said...

It was a kick in the teeth when we had striking miners being refused a pay rise. Hard men, miners, well able to dish it out as well as take it. Ms. Marquis is definitely being sexist here, conjuring up pictures of a shocked middle-class gel holding back tears as she raises her hand to a red welt on her cheek. I think her members should complain bitterly about that, and drive her to resignation for it.

A slap is definitely appropriate, though, as it's pretty much all drunken morons in casualty or old dears on the psychogeriatric ward can manage. I wonder what union leaders would say if they had to ask for rugby league players to be better paid. They can soak up pretty much anything.

Totally off-topic, but the replacement secateurs I recently mentioned (the originals broke, so I complained and got a new pair) broke on first use. Literally the first cut of a puny little twig. Same rivet popped out. Well, maybe not all that off-topic, because it was a slap in the face. For the replacement of the replacement, I've still stuck with British: Wilkinson Sword. That's a grand name, redolent of Sheffield, tough Yorkshire craftsmen, should last a lifetime...

MrMC said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MrMC said...

Sam,
Suggest you get an axe next time, it can also come in handy in salary negotiations...or maybe not.
And if you are denied your rightful remuneration you can become...a lumberjack, leaping from tree to tree etc.

DiscoveredJoys said...

The pay of nurses and the continuance of the NHS are all 'live wires' in politics. And yet this is just a union leader arguing for more pay on behalf of their members. Nothing to see here.

Now the nurses and doctors on the front line *might* be worthy of a monetary one off reward... but as a 'one off' it shouldn't add to the pressure from other groups to 'maintain their pay differentials'.

Nessimmersion said...

As the employees of OURNHS hold themselves in such high regard and expect the dutiful subservience of a grateful populace, they will accept performance related pay surely.
All NHS staff to get 50% of their current wages and a 10% bonus for every year conditional on the UK death rate being in the bottom 25% of European average.
What with the NHS being the wonder of the world, such an offer would be accepted with alacrity

John Arthur said...

SV,

Wilkinson Sword will be a disappointment to you. From Wikipedia:

"Energizer Holdings bought Wilkinson Sword from Pfizer in 2003, along with Schick. In 2015, Energizer demerged its personal care business as a new company, Edgewell Personal Care, of which Wilkinson Sword and Schick became part. Both are now brands used by Edgewell; Wilkinson Sword is used in Europe and Schick is used in Edgewell's remaining markets."

" In 2000, the company closed its razor plant in the UK and consolidated production in Germany. In 2014, the company further moved most of its production to Czech Republic."

I like the Czechs. I might buy one of their secateurs now.

djc said...

Wilkinson Sword secateurs will be even more of a disappointment:

from the garden tools website: "E. P. Barrus has a trade mark licence agreement with Wilkinson Sword Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Energizer Holdings Inc) to sell and market the Wilkinson Sword range of garden tools in the UK and Eire.

Note, 'sell and market' nothing about where made.

A K Haart said...

Anon - I reckon we are all being pissed on at the moment - apart from those at the top of the tree.

Sam - blimey I think you are right - her members should complain bitterly because it is blatantly sexist. A slap indeed.

MrMC - I find an axe very useful as well as chopping wood. Good for negotiating with stubborn roots for example.

DJ - I agree, a one off bung would have made more sense if they feel they really have to do something for political reasons.

Nessimmersion - that's a good idea. Maybe wages could also be related to better infection control within hospitals.

JA and djc - it's the way of the world but there is something not quite right about trusted brands being used in this way. I suppose if the quality declines too much, so does the brand, but sometimes that is what happens.