Striking nurse forced to borrow cash from parents to get through month
A nurse who has to borrow money from his parents to pay his bills at the end of the month says he is “disappointed” to be striking, but that "the Government has literally left us out in the cold”.
Matt Tacey, 32, who lives in the East Midlands, said that he did not want to strike but he, as well as fellow colleagues, have been “forced” into the position because “the Government just won’t enter any meaningful negotiations with us as a union”.
Mr Tacey and his wife are both nurses and as a team manager, he says he is aware of the struggles his colleagues face, who regularly speak to him about their situations and have to pick up extra shifts “just to get by”.
He added: “My wife and I often have to borrow money from parents just to see us through to the end of the month because current salaries are not covering the basic bills.
“We live in one of the richest countries in the world and yet people can’t afford heating, they can’t afford to put food on the table … it’s a national disgrace.”
“You won’t find one single nurse that wants to be outside hospitals or places of work”, he added.
“We are disappointed to be striking because it goes against the fundamental aspect of being a nurse – providing care – and we want to be able to provide care, we want to improve lives.
“To stand outside hospitals and not provide care goes against every grain in our DNA and it’s going to be around three to four degrees tomorrow, so the Government has literally left us out in the cold.”
“The phrase ‘the NHS is at breaking point’ is often used and I disagree with that statement”, he said.
“The NHS isn’t at breaking point, the NHS is broken.
“We’re looking at significant wait times, significantly understaffed wards which results in staff feeling burnt out and overwhelmed and this has been widely published in a negative way to portray the NHS as a failing system.
“We are failing, but it’s not because of staff incompetence or because we don’t care, it is because this Government has underfunded and cut resources to a dangerously low level, which has resulted in significant staff vacancies.”
Mr Tacey comes from a nursing family, with his mother, father and grandmother all having worked as nurses.
“I get really passionate about this because I feel as though I’m fighting for the nurses who have previously had to deal with a lot of these shortages and under-resourcing”, he said.
“I’m also fighting for the current nurses that are facing significant struggles day in and day out, the inability to sometimes get to work because they cannot afford to put fuel in their car.
“I’m also fighting for the future generation of nurses because currently, applying for a job in the NHS is not attractive and it feels like we are all fighting a losing battle.”
Writing in the Independent, he said: “If we provide unaffordable pay rises to NHS staff, we will take billions of pounds away from where we need it most. Unaffordable pay hikes will mean cutting patient care and stoking the inflation that would make us all poorer.”
He insisted there is “much common ground” between both sides of the dispute, stating that ministers “want to work with union leaders to improve the NHS and deliver better care” and that a “fair way” to a resolution can be found.
Nurse strikes: 'We’re overworked and underpaid, the NHS is just a shambles'
Who is striking when? A timeline of walkouts in January and February 2023