‘We’re done with platitudes’: NHS staff at Homerton Hospital stage rally over pay

Staff and members of the community gathered near Homerton Hospital. Photograph: Callum Sunderland

Staff at Homerton University Hospital held a rally (Monday 30 March) to protest the government’s plan to award a 3.3 per cent pay rise to NHS workers.

The pay increase was made at the recommendation of the NHS Pay Review Body, which health secretary Wes Streeting said would make “a real terms pay rise for NHS staff.”

However, organisers argue it does not go far enough to cover the rising cost of living, which is being exacerbated by the ongoing war in Iran.

The event was organised by representatives and activists from multiple unions and professional groups across the hospital and was attended by many members of the local community.

Representatives from UNISON and other health unions attended the rally. Photograph: Callum Sunderland

Callum Sunderland is a representative for UNISON, Britain’s largest trade union, who was in attendance yesterday.

“The Pay Review Body has been boycotted by all of the trade unions in the NHS because of dissatisfaction about how that process has been working for years now,” he told the Citizen.

“RPI inflation right now is 3.6 per cent so that’s already a pay cut for us and MPs have just awarded themselves 5 per cent.”

On 2 March, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) announced that MPs’ salaries would rise by 5 per cent to £98,599, with plans for it to rise to £110,000 by the end of parliament, scheduled for 2029.

IPSA chairman Richard Lloyd said that this was because MPs are “dealing with higher levels of complex casework, and abuse and intimidation”.

Sunderland described the morale of staff at the hospital as “strained” due to the pay conditions.

“A lot of people hoped that that was going to improve into the Labour government, but that’s not the case,” he said.

“In fact, this year, I’ve felt that the cuts have been more demanding than I remember it ever having been before … and obviously, with the war in Iran, things are about to get a lot worse.”

In Streeting’s statement announcing the pay increase, he wrote: “Improving the experience of work for all staff, ensuring the NHS is a great place to work, is fundamental to improving the patient experience.”

But for workers at Homerton, many remain unconvinced by the government’s promises.

“How do you expect us to deliver services while we’re burnt out, run down, worrying about the rent or bills or eviction?” Sunderland said.

“More and more of us can’t even afford to live in the city we work in. We need real action on the cost of living; we’re done with platitudes.”