NHS unions have been rejecting government pay offers for a while now. Staff retention is very low- a lot of good colleagues who know their worth have left the NHS to other jobs, mostly relating to healthcare or where they are appreciated by their communication skills. Some trusts in England are offering a "welcome Package" of 1-2k to attract staff. Younger people i work with, compare themselves with their friends and how they earn more money than them after a few years on a role.
People say that the main problem with NHS retention is stress, not pay. However, It would be naive to say that a higher pay does not attract and motivates workers to stay. Look at high stress jobs like those in the financial world, some areas of law and IT. They are really stressful with pressing deadlines and unsociable hours. But they can still recruit people probably because their attractive pay packages attracts them. You will say that the law of offer and demand does not apply to the NHS as it is government-funded. Wont this further undermine the NHS until they (politicians) have no other option but to bring in private healthcare? Will you then be happy to pay USA prices? Stop burying your head on the sand, we need to find a solution or the NHS won't survive.
Many staff get burn out with the constant rota changes, missing breaks and working extra hours at the end of the shift. Then they discover that it is actually not that easy to get a band 6-7 job. Later it comes the realisation that if you cannot keep up with this pace of work in your 30s, what is going to happen in your late 60s?!
As a sector with a high proportion of staff that is female, foreign and very caring/compassionate (as opposed to competitive), makes us very adverse to strikes. I argue however that a strike might be the only thing that saves the NHS (which is barely surviving as it is) from collapse.
We live in an era where rich people and politicians have very high expectations regarding their salaries, pay packages and the dividends they get for doing their jobs or sometimes next to nothing. They also expect normal people to keep their heads down because it is very disappointing that we dare to ask for a fraction of what they get/expect. Why is it ok to lose billions in a failed T&T project/ PPE/ parties/decoration/treehouse, etc but it is not ok to invest it in paying NHS staff enough so they dont have to use food banks? This would translate in more expending by people and improved economy. Instead, the rich keep their unrealistic pay and "lump sums" stashed away, to benefit a few.
What is wrong with society that supports this level of hypocrisy?
Summary: if you pay peanuts and you dont get enough monkeys, why dont you change your approach and pay more before the NHS falls on its knees?