A North East NHS physio and union rep has said the profession is "on its knees" ahead of its first ever strike action over pay.
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy physios will walk out on January 26 - with picket lines at Newcastle's Freeman and Royal Victoria Infirmary hospitals. Ahead of the strikes, physio Jill Taylor - who is a lead regional steward for the CSP in our region - said striking was an "absolute last resort".
She told ChronicleLive: "It's the first time we have ever taken action over pay - and we have been pushed into this by Government. We have significant workforce shortages and huge waiting lists.
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"This was to some degree the case pre-Covid but since and during then it has been exacerbated. The Government have tried to offer a pay award that's half the rate of inflation. That's just not enough."
She explained that the strike - like the other walkouts facing the NHS - could be stopped should the Government choose to sit down with unions and negotiate on its pay offer, but that not to do so was causing staff shortages. Jill added: "It's a staff retention problem. And when people leave there's then greater pressure on the people that are remaining.
"From a physiotherapy point of view, a lot of people don't realise that our work spans pretty much every department in a hospital."
Jill discussed how physio staff provide urgent trauma based services - such as in for those with respiratory conditions - but that staffing such rotas was becoming harder and harder. She said: "If you don't have enough staff then people are being constantly asked to work over, to work hours they'd not otherwise do.
"Everyone knows the NHS runs on so much goodwill - but after everything we have been through, after Covid and after being treated like this with this disgraceful pay offer, that's just not there."
Quoting a friend who had offered support, she said: "How do you expect a workforce that specialises in rehabilitation to do their job when they are on their knees.
"If you're a patient and you're vulnerable then you want to know that the care you're given is delivered to the utmost level. And after a full-on day dealing with extremely patients, a physio needs to go home with something left in the tank."
Like previous NHS strikes this winter, the CSP has worked closely with hospital leaders to ensure "life and limb" and urgent trauma services continue throughout strike action.
The CSP has already announced a second day of strike action on February 9. Earlier this month, Claire Sullivan, - director of employer relations and union services at the CSP said: "The Government’s intransigence places physiotherapists and support workers in an exceptionally difficult position – none of them wants to strike but after years of under-investment and pay cuts leading to the current staffing crisis and soaring waiting lists, they simply have no choice.
“We are losing talented, committed and much-needed NHS staff every day and pay is critical to stopping that exodus."
Like other frontline NHS staff, physios have been offered a £1,400 pay rise - which amounts to around 3 to 4%. The CSP said this "falls far short of meeting the increased cost of living".
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that he was not able to “wave a magic wand” to resolve the bitter dispute over pay. He said giving pay rises to striking staff – including ambulance workers and nurses – would lead to money being taken away from “elsewhere in the NHS budget”.
But he insisted that the Government would continue to “engage in dialogue with the unions”. He told ITV news: "Taking a step back, of course it would be lovely to be able to wave a magic wand and just give everyone what they were demanding when it came to pay.
“But my job as Prime Minister is to make the right decisions for the country, and they are, more often than not, not easy decisions. But that’s my job, and that’s what I will always do in this job, and… when you think about this, how would we pay for these things? Where’s the money going to come from?"
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