Stephen Morgan MP has called on the Health Secretary Matt Hancock MP for failing to pay Portsmouth NHS staff a ‘fair wage’.
The Portsmouth MP has written a letter to Mr Hancock demanding ‘unacceptable’ levels of NHS staff pay are addressed following a city-wide petition conducted by the city MP’s office searching for local views on the issue.
It comes as 35,948 patients are currently awaiting treatment from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, according to the latest data from NHS England, despite staff being ‘burnt out’ and a significant backlog of treatment still to work through.
In addition, according to analysis of the same data from Mr Morgan’s office, close to 2900 patients have been awaiting treatment for either a year or longer.
The Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan MP, said,
“Our NHS staff have gone above and beyond to support our city and the wider region through this past year, so it cannot be right that many of them continue to be underpaid.
“Pay levels for our NHS heroes in Portsmouth is unacceptably low and it really important they get the pay rise they deserve.
“Hearing from constituents who have shared their views with me, it is clear morale is low and a pay rise would help to give them the boost they so clearly need, as well as ensure we retain and hire as the focus must now be on dealing with backlog in treatment.”
Mr Morgan wrote to the government for a fair NHS staff pay rise in March after it was revealed 300,000 staff worked unpaid hours in the past year, as well as liaising with local nursing representatives in Portsmouth and argued for a pay increase in the House of Commons budget debate.
