On Tue 26 Apr at 7:38pm Doug wrote:
Should Maria Caulfield support free parking for nurses?
Fury as NHS hospital staff forced to pay for parking charged extra £90-a-year
Staff will now need to pay around £1,000 to leave their car at work. Many nurses are taking on extra shifts to cope with the rising living costs.
On Wed 27 Apr at 9:13am Nevillman wrote:
Not disputing this is an issue Doug but it is hardly the most important problem facing the NHS at the moment. Anyone who has tried to go to the a and e in Brighton will know that waits of 6 hours and more in intolerable conditions are standard. I am told the working conditions are so poor as well that nurses leave constantly. Waiting lists for all departments are life threatening. Nurses leave because their job has become impossible to do because of staffing levels so making the situation worse.
I could go on but basically we have left the NHS in the care of politicians with an interest in seeing it run into the ground and complaining about lack of parking for nurses is a bit like complaining about the deckchair arrangement on the Titanic.
On Wed 27 Apr at 10:11am Doug wrote:
Thanks Nevillman
I do agree we have many problems with The NHS.
The question is should underpaid nurses pay 1k a year to attend work? If many give up and leave, will that add to your bigger picture view?
Maria Caulfield reminds me many times she was/is a nurse also holds a government position under - Secretary of State for Patient safety and primary Care.
Should she support her ex working colleagues and patients by ensuring they can get to work?
MPs enjoyed a 2k plus salary increase plus the ability to claim fuel expenses?
How could this and other issues be funded?
It would be a good gesture if MPS donated the salary increase to pay for parking.
Billions have been lost to fraud on PPE contracts. A recent report claimed 600 or so pounds cost to every household in the country.
Government connections hiding massive profits in tax havens. 0 tax?
A government minister moving funds via a hedge fund to avoid million in tax? How many more avoiding tax in government.
Take action to recover taxpayers money?
What has happened to the 33 million plus from Sir Tom. Donations from the public to help and reward nurses?
I have asked nurses at Eastbourne hospital. What benefits have been forthcoming?
NOTHING?
You may think this is trivial but if we can’t get enough nurses. Then we might as well just go down with the ship quietly?
On Wed 27 Apr at 3:02pm Mark wrote:
Maria C is a indeed a nurse. She works the minimum hours that she can manage every year under NMC regulations so that she can go on waving the "I'm a nurse" card around. It's something ridiculous like 48 hours/year.
On Wed 27 Apr at 4:37pm Slarty wrote:
Is there any reason why a nurse should get free parking and not, say, a McDonalds employee?
On Thu 28 Apr at 10:03am Nevillman wrote:
A fair point slarty. The issue isn't whether we give nurses free parking (arguably we should be discouraging driving by everyone as much as possible). The issue is about how we reward nurses and fund the NHS in total. Incidentally, I was told by a nurse recently that a large number of EU nurses left because they didn't want to stay in a country that had voted to not make them welcome here in the brexit referendum.
On Thu 28 Apr at 4:12pm Doug wrote:
Slarty
If you can’t get a McDonalds you won’t die
If you can’t get a nurse you might.
Would you do the job for the same wage and then loose 1000 pounds to get to work.
Many are working 12 hour shifts making it difficult to use public transport. We need to encourage nurses to stay with the NHS. We need to encourage recruiting many more nurses.
When many at the top have huge salaries and expenses if is hypocritical to punish nurses to park. What has happened to the 33 million plus raised by Sir Tom?
How has this benefited nurses?
On Fri 29 Apr at 10:00am Nevillman wrote:
I doubt if parking fees lists highly in why it is difficult to recruit and retain nurses Doug. It's other issues that need to be addressed.
If you Google what happened to captain Tom's money you will find what you seek Doug.
Personally I am very uneasy about the whole issue of NHS charity. The NHS was set up to be a nationwide health service for us to use as a right to be funded by all of us through taxation. It should not be dependent on charities at all. If leeches like sunak, mogg and the many other stinking rich parasites who spend some of their vast fortune paying people to avoid paying their tax, behaved with any decency then charities would not be needed and we could have a properly funded NHS that was up to the job.
On Fri 29 Apr at 11:20am Doug wrote:
Nevillman
Agree with your bigger picture.
But still consider a charge of 1k a year to park is a massive burden on under paid nurses.
I have been looking at how Sir Toms donations from the public have been used. Not much practical help for cost of living crisis hitting under valued nurses?
From what I have seen relative small amounts spent on projects?
Captain Tom Foundation has £700,000 unspent donations
The charity founded in memory of lockdown hero Sir Captain Tom Moore paid out more in admin costs than it did grants, its annual report reveals.
The Captain Tom Foundation, set up by the family of the war veteran in the wake of his record-breaking fundraising efforts, has only paid out more than £162,000 in management costs in its first year but has only given out four £40,000 grants.
Set up in May 2020 after Sir Tom's NHS fundraising drive, it has raised more than £1million in its first year.
Some £700,000 remains unspent.
This is a concern?
Agree it is a side issue from the original fund raiser?
I ask how much remains from the 33 million or 39 million with gift aid.
How much has gone on administrative and salaries?
Use some funds for the direct benefit for nurses.
I understood this was why public donations were made .
More help than clapping
On Sun 8 May at 10:46am Doug wrote:
All Members of Parliament are entitled to a permit allowing them to park at no cost in a multi-storey underground car park near Parliament. At the same time, NHS staff have to pay for parking, a cost that was brought back earlier this year after the pandemic.