It is so sad that such a simple thing, a simple idea to enhance the pay of people that care for us and other peoples loved ones can have any push back or people who question it.
There are always going to be nuances and exceptions/anomalies in any occupation, or those that some feel are not worthy of a pay rise. So, yes there may be a question over a blanket pay rise. The same as if you said all civil servants should get a blanket pay rise...as that could include "whitehall mandarins" or MPs who are highly paid already.
Of course we often fall foul of the basic thing of comparing our own pay against that of nurses, care assistants, porters, cleaners etc. In those cases I think we should all look at those jobs and say to ourselves..."would I / could I do that job?"
As a civil servant myself (who is earning less now than I was 12years ago) and the husband of a nurse of 30years, I know I could not do what my wife does. The pain and suffering, the day to day caring and then having to run all over the hospital for crash calls. Not only that but then having to deal with the families, who themselves are often suffering...and therefore often hostile to the staff.
The clapping once or twice was a wonderful gesture...a gesture that after a while (IMO) became patronising...and in the wake of the governments response to the requests for a pay rise for NHS staff...became even more so.
Times are tough for everyone and yes the country does need to balance the books....but our NHS and the people who help it run on a daily basis...deserve more.
