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heroica
The NHS Crumbling is a Feminist Issue BY L AU R E N J O N E S
The NHS is a source of national pride for Britain. But after years of government neglect, pay freezes and a serious lack of respect for NHS workers – not to mention a global pandemic – the NHS is crumbling. While this is indeed a crisis, what most don’t realise is that it’s also an important feminist issue. Healthcare workers fall under the umbrella term ‘pink-collar workers’, which refers to those working in care-oriented fields or other roles that have historically been considered women’s work. Pink-collar workers are not afforded adequate respect for their roles because of the traditional perception of these roles as easy work or unskilled vocations. According to NHS Digital, professionally qualified clinical staff make up 52.8% of full-time equivalent NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) staff, meaning that over half of full-time NHS workers have a degree and/or other specialised training – so they should be considered working professionals as opposed to unskilled workers. Many of us have a very basic understanding of how our healthcare system actually works. There is widespread awareness of different roles within healthcare, such as nurses, midwives, doctors, and health care assistants (HCAs), but what these roles actually entail and the differences between them are shrouded in a degree of mystery. Nurses, for example, are responsible for administering medications, monitoring patients and informing doctors of any change in patient status – not just paperwork and helping patients shower. Doctors and nurses work in partnership and depend on each other’s skills and specialist knowledge to provide high-quality patient care: it is not the case that doctors are solely responsible for the most serious decisions. Healthcare professionals are not fairly paid for their work, which is at least partially due to the ignorance surrounding what exactly a job in healthcare entails. As well as literally being the difference between a patient living or dying in some cases, hours are long and shift patterns are gruelling. Nurses, HCAs, midwives, doctors and paramedics are all required to provide aroundthe-clock care, working undesirable hours such as night shifts and public holidays like Christmas. Some HCAs, according to NHS employers, earn as little as £10.95 per hour. New nurses and midwives earn, not including tax or pensions, £27,055 (nurses.co.uk), which works out as approximately £1,650-£1,850 per month. When broken down into an hourly wage, an HCA or nurse earns little more than a supermarket worker. In fact, some healthcare professionals are walking away from the healthcare sector entirely to work a job that is less stressful and less responsibility for comparable pay. Other workers choose to leave NHS hospitals and trusts but do not quit the profession entirely. Nursing in the private sector offers more flexibility, a less stressful working environment and sometimes other benefits such as private healthcare. Agency nursing is another alternative, which again offers increased flexibility, among other advantages such as shorter shifts and better pay. Working for a private institution or as an agency nurse allows healthcare workers (a large
