GMB slams NHS group offering healthcare heroes 'snack box or badge' as pandemic reward - while consulting on redundancy
A badge, a clap or a snack is no recognition for hard working NHS staff during the Covid-19 pandemic says GMB Union.
GMB has slammed an NHS group offering healthcare heroes a ‘snack box or a badge’ to thank them for their work during the covid pandemic – while at the same time consulting the workforce on redundancies.
GMB is calling on the group - Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group to think again about the ‘insulting’ offer.
The CCG, which was formed earlier this year from eight former smaller bodies, covers the 1.8million people living in both Kent and Medway. Their annual budget was set last year at £2.738 billion in 2020/2.
The staff employed across the CCG were asked during a redundancy consultation exercise, which closed last Friday, on which reward they preferred. The management told the staff that it was ‘a genuine and heartfelt thank you to each one of you to recognise your contribution.’
Nick Day, GMB Membership Development Officer for Kent, said:
“NHS workers have from the very beginning risked their health and well being for the good of the nation during a national crisis,
“Despite issues with PPE supplies, a disastrous track and trace system and a shortage of nursing staff they have made sure that the NHS continues to provide a high quality of care in both Kent and Medway.
“This email from an organisation covering 1.8 million people is quite simply an insult. Our members don’t want a badge or a snack box, they want a pay rise of 15% to make up for below inflation pay rises since 2010.
"The UK has been one of the worst effected countries in the world from Covid-19 and we are approaching figures that are higher than the first wave.
“So GMB’s message to Kent and Medway CCG is clear, instead of a badge, a clap or a snack, pay our members what they truly deserve and don’t insult them with these token gestures"
