The parents of organ donor campaigner Max Johnson are backing health workers walking out today in the biggest NHS strike in history – urging the Government: “Do the right thing.”
Paul and Emma Johnson are speaking out for nurses like those who looked after their transplant patient son Max, who ushered in Max’s Law for an opt-out system of organ donation in 2019.
Tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance staff in England are set to take part in industrial action sparked by the Government’s refusal to budge over pay.
Nurses are due to strike again tomorrow while ambulance crews and call handlers will return to the picket lines on Friday.
Emma said: “The money wasted on PPE contracts could have funded their pay rise.”
She and Paul warned the NHS is “on its knees” after over 12 years of Tory rule.
They told how hero nurses went the extra mile for Max, now 15, when he was fighting for his life at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
At the end of a long shift they would drive miles to get him a McDonald’s takeaway, and they would take him out on their days off.
They even had water fights with him in an outdoor play area during hot weather to keep his spirits up before his life-saving heart transplant in 2017.
Civil servant Paul said: “The nurses were amazing – but that was typical behaviour. They did everything to keep his spirits buoyed.
“These people are not driven by money, they are not mercenaries, it’s not like working in the City where you’ve made £50million and you want £50m more, they’re not doing it for money.
“It is vocational and they deserve more.”
Today the Tories were accused of an ‘abdication of responsibility’ over their refusal to negotiate with unions.
Max, 15, underwent a life-saving heart transplant in 2017. Our front page story on his desperate wait for surgery led to a new organ donor law named in honour of the brave schoolboy and his heart donor Keira Ball.
His parents told how nurses ‘went the extra mile’ in his treatment at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
Wth tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance staff set to take industrial action,
Paul, who has continued to campaign on organ donation, added: “They always want to do the right thing for their patients to make them as comfortable and happy that they can be.
“They should have the dignity and respect they deserve - you cannot put a price on the job that they do. We have had 12 years of managed decline.
“It has brought these wonderful people to a position where they say that they cannot stand any more. We’ve seen under investment and poor pay and seen NHS staff go through the horrendous pressure of a pandemic.
“Bevan spoke of folk being prepared to fight for the NHS - and that’s what we need to do now.
“If your child needs a heart transplant, you can forget BUPA.
“You will need the NHS to save them.”
Emma, head of business development with a charity, added: “Nurses cannot work from home. On a Saturday night they would watch Britain’s Got Talent with Max and laughed and joked with him.
“They entered into the spirit of it for Max’s sake. One nurse brought in her pet Alsatian so we could go out for a walk with them. The impact on nurses’ morale, the understaffing, long waiting times, they are caused by Government policy.
“The money wasted on PPE contracts could have funded their pay rise. They ignored companies that did not have a mate in the Cabinet, it is disgusting. Matt Hancock made £320,000 on ‘I’m a Celebrity’ and donated three percent.
“It is a constant message of greed that comes through from their behaviour, they are driven by making a quick buck, when millions of people are struggling to buy food and heat their homes.
“It makes you feel sick and angry.” The nurses have been offered a five per cent pay rise, following a 12.5 percent increase in inflation last year. Ambulance staff received four percent.
No-one “at any level” in the Government has entered into the talks about NHS pay, angry unions warned yesterday.
Tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance staff in England are walking out today and tomorrow, with ambulance crews and call handlers returning to the picket lines on Friday.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham was asked yesterday whether “on the eve of the biggest health strike in history there is zero conversation between anyone in your union and anyone at all speaking for the Government?”
She told BBC ’s ‘Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg’: “I can categorically say to you we are in no talks at any level whatsoever with the Government about pay in the NHS, and that is a real abdication of responsibility.
“Why is Rishi Sunak not coming to the table? Instead of doing sort of press conferences about other things, come to the table and negotiate - roll your sleeves up and negotiate on the pay in the NHS, that is what’s required.
“I can tell you categorically that there has been no conversations on pay whatsoever with Rishi Sunak or Steve Barclay about this dispute, in any way shape or form.
“They’ve danced around their handbag, they danced around the edges, but they will not talk about pay. To me, that is an abdication of responsibility as the dispute is about pay - so how can they say they are in talks?”
Her comments come after nursing leaders issued a direct appeal to Mr Sunak to intervene in their pay dispute. Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen said a “meaningful” pay offer could still avert strike action.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, warned the Government had not engaged in any meaningful dialogue for a month.
“Instead, they’ve wasted time attempting to smear ambulance workers,” she said. “GMB members are fed up waiting, so they came to Parliament to speak to Steve Barclay. He was too busy to see them.
“The NHS is crumbling; people are dying and this Government is dithering.
The public back ambulance workers. The Government needs to wake up and talk pay now.”
Introduced in May, 2021, Max and Keira’s Law means everyone in England is presumed to be an organ donor when they die unless the opt out of the new system, though family consent is still required.
The PM is refusing to improve offer - unlike Welsh and Scottish governments
By Pat Cullen, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing
Why does Rishi Sunak want to leave England’s nurses the UK’s worst-paid?
Tens of thousands will ask that as they leave their hospitals to protest at the way this Government neglects the NHS, its patients and workers.
If you’re a nurse in Wales or in Scotland, your government is offering more money to help right now. But, for England, the Prime Minister is refusing.
In Mr Sunak’s first 100 days in office, waiting lists hit seven million; thousands more were waiting 12 hours to be seen in A&E; and a record number of nurse jobs couldn’t be filled – 47,000 in England’s NHS alone. How many patients should those missing nurses be looking after?
At the heart of this strike, in the 75th year of the NHS, we are fighting for its future. I’m the first to say nursing can be the most fascinating, rewarding and challenging career. But today, they are pushed too far and get little respect.
One nurse looking after 10, 20 or sometimes more patients on their own. Fourteen-hour shifts. Extraordinary work for very ordinary wages.
That’s why people can’t do it any longer. Some are retiring early but I also see young people leaving after a few years. Pay nursing staff fairly and they will stay; patient care will improve.
PM, your Government has struggled in recent weeks. You need a reset.
I challenge you to find a better way to show the public you’re on their side than to bring this nurse strike to an end and put the NHS on a better track.
