If Rishi Sunak had any doubts over how patients feel about the Tory war on health, Catherine Poole swiftly dispelled them for him yesterday.
The 77-year-old confronted the new PM on his first visit since entering No10 unopposed and accused him of not paying stretched frontline staff enough.
As more savage health cuts loom after Liz Truss tanked the economy with her mini-Budget and the NHS faces unprecedented nursing strikes this winter, angry Catherine laid into Mr Sunak over the Tory record.
The PM asked the pensioner, who is recovering from an operation at Croydon University Hospital in South London, if the nurses were looking after her.
She replied sternly: “They always do, it’s a pity you don’t pay them more.”
Masked Mr Sunak squirmed as he tried to convince Catherine: “We are trying, we are trying.”
But she was having none of it. Wagging her finger at him, she barked back: “No, you’re not trying. You need to try harder.” After Mr Sunak’s hospital ward photo opportunity bombed so badly, he ducked questions about nurses’ pay.
But with 350,000 workers, including porters, nurses, paramedics and cleaners being balloted on strike action over a below-inflation 4% pay rise, the NHS faces a winter of walkouts.
And an exclusive poll revealed 65% of people support nurses walking out – up from 60% three months ago. It also showed 79% believe there are not enough nurses to deliver safe NHS care.
Unions joined in the attack on the PM over the treatment of NHS staff who, along with other Tories, he praised and applauded in the pandemic.
GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “This Prime Minister is part of the same Tory administration that has crushed our health service. It’s no wonder patients want to give him a piece of their mind.”
Unison’s Helga Pile added: “Patients like Catherine know NHS staff deserve better than they’re getting.
“Rishi Sunak must put the money into paying staff and fund services properly, otherwise strikes this winter look increasingly likely. No one wants to see disruption. But if the NHS is to ever get back on its feet, the public understands staff have few other options.”
The British Medical Association’s Dr Emma Runswick said: “The public see first-hand how stretched our NHS is. The Government’s refusal to value healthcare staff and pay them fairly for their work is resulting in doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff leaving in their droves.”
After Mr Sunak’s visit, he was asked if he was happy that nurses are not getting a real-term increase in pay – with inflation now at 10.1%”
The PM did not answer, but said: “One of my priorities is going to be tackling the Covid backlogs and supporting the NHS.” The YouGov poll on NHS strike was commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing.
General Secretary Pat Cullen, said: “The public stands with nursing staff as they know that when nurses speak, they speak for patients. It is for them that our members are voting to strike.
“Nurses have already suffered a decade of real terms pay cuts.”
A London Economics study found the average nurse is now working the equivalent of one day a week for free compared to 2010. Treasury sources warn the country faces up to £50billion of spending cuts in next month’s Autumn Statement.
Mr Sunak last night did a U-turn on his Tory leadership pledge to fine patients who miss GP and hospital appointments £10.
