Hospitals 'were dangerously understaffed' when Covid hit because of austerity

04 June 2023 , 21:30

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Poor pay have been blamed for problems with NHS recruitment and retention (Image: PA)

Hospitals did not have enough nurses when Covid hit as years of austerity “cost the nation dearly”, unions have warned.

A TUC report today finds health and social care were “dangerously understaffed” as pay freezes had led to problems with recruitment and staff turnover.

In 2019, just before the pandemic, the average NHS worker was earning £3,000 less than in 2010 when their wage was adjusted for inflation - creating an impact on both hiring and retention.

Between 2010 and 2020, the number of nurses per person in the UK grew by less than 1% – despite demand for care rising by a third.

This is in contrast to the OECD average that saw nurses per person rise by 10%.

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The Covid Inquiry will begin its first evidence sessions next week as it examines the country’s preparations for the pandemic.

The TUC's Paul Nowak said austerity meant the country was "hugely unprepared' for the pandemic (PA)

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “To learn lessons and save future lives, we must take an unflinching look at the choices made by our leaders in the years before the pandemic.

“In the NHS and social care, funding cuts put staff levels in the danger zone. Cuts to social security pushed many more people below the poverty line, leaving them more vulnerable to infection.

“And cuts to health and safety left workers exposed to rogue employers who cut corners and put their lives at risk.”

He added: “Austerity cost the nation dearly. It left us hugely unprepared for the pandemic. And it left far too many workers unprotected. The consequences were painful and tragic.”

Later this summer, the Covid Inquiry will move on to looking at decisions made by the government during the pandemic.

Professor John Edmunds of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was a member of the Sage committee that advised ministers, said yesterday it must examine Rishi Sunak ’s “spectacularly stupid” Eat Out To Help Out scheme.

Professor John, who has submitted written evidence to the Covid Inquiry, told the Observer: "If we had [been consulted], I would have been clear what I thought about it.

"As far as I am concerned, it was a spectacularly stupid idea and an obscene way to spend public money."

Under the scheme, launched by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor, diners were able to get half price meals when they ate out in August 2020.

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Around £840million was spent by the government on providing taxpayer-funded discounts on 160million meals.

The plan was aimed at supporting hospitality businesses that had been forced to close their doors during lockdown.

But critics have warned that it led to an increase in Covid infections.

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John Stevens