Campaigning Woodford Green nurse admits: I didn’t expect to be doing this
Danielle Tiplady, 29, has started a petition calling for the one per cent cap on nurses salaries to be removed - Credit: David M Bailey
A Woodford Green nurse is leading the campaign against the government’s one per cent pay rise cap, saying colleagues are resorting to “desperate measures” to get by.
Danielle Tiplady, 29, who has just moved to the area to work as a district nurse, started a petition against the policy on October 3 which already has 30,000 signatures.
In March the government announced most public sector workers would receive a onepc annual salary rise, following recommendations from pay review bodies.
But Danielle claims the cap is “forcing people into poverty” and says colleagues have been forced to use payday loans.
“Since 2010, nurses have suffered a 14 per cent cut in real terms, whilst everything else is rising in cost,” she explained.
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“I’ve worked through university holidays to ensure that I can make ends meet but the thing that keeps me going is my patients.”
The petition, with more than 30,000 signatures, needs to reach 100,000 to be debated in the House of Commons.
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Danielle, who recently graduated from her adult nursing course at Kings College London, says she never envisaged becoming an activist when she started her degree.
She said: “I didn’t expect to be doing this.
“When I started my university course, three years ago, I knew that the NHS was not in such a great state.
“But I have colleagues that are using payday loans to pay their rent and crying because they feel like failures.”
Danielle previously campaigned against the government’s decision to end nursing bursaries from August 2017, and says she is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support.
She continued: “It’s great, I feel like the public have really supported us.
“At the first protest we organised outside the Department of Health, I was expecting 20 people, but 500 turned up!”
“Now it needs to be debated in Parliament.
“We have been working under these conditions for far too long, whilst living costs rise, enough is enough.”
“We deserve to be paid a fair salary, in line with inflation.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “We will continue to fund public sector pay awards, including for NHS staff, at an average of one per cent next year.
To sign the petition, click here.
