A letter to patients from NHS staff

Dear patients, families and friends

It’s time to #GetSerious on NHS pay for all our sakes.

As NHS staff, we come to work every day to look after people who need us. Right now, staff shortages are making it harder and harder for us to do our jobs well and keep patients safe. Understaffing also means more pressure on the people still here, which means more of us getting ill with stress, or choosing to leave.

Waiting lists are longer than they’ve ever been – and getting longer. The government has said they’re going to tackle the backlog. But without more staff, that simply won’t happen.

Already, one in ten posts in the NHS is vacant, and 400 staff are quitting every week.

Low pay makes it harder to recruit and retain the staff we desperately need to deliver care for you and your loved ones. NHS pay has been falling in real terms for ten years, and the cost of living crisis is making things much worse.

NHS staff are due a pay rise today – 1 April – but they are facing another long wait until payday. We’re asking the government to give us a proper pay rise, above the rate of inflation, that will boost morale and help us start to recruit and keep more staff.

If politicians are serious about getting the NHS back on track, they need to start with a proper pay rise for staff.

Please back our call for fair pay. You can help us by:

1. Taking a picture with NHS staff or with our ‘selfie’ signs and sharing it on social media using our hashtags #WithNHSStaff and #GetSerious
2. Writing to your MP to say you want NHS staff to get a proper pay rise
3. Telling friends and family about the campaign, and asking them to support us too

For more information visit our take action page.

Together we can get our NHS fit again, so it can care for all of us.

Thank you.
NHS staff