News
Occupational therapist nominated for an MBE
Qualified occupational therapist Pippa Cramer has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours list , for services to older and vulnerable people , particularly during COVID-19 .
Pippa is the co-founder of Daily Hope , a free UK national helpline , which was set up in April 2020 , during the COVID-19 lockdown when churches were closed .
The 24-hour line offers music , prayers and reflection , as well as full worship services from the Church of England , and it has been receiving around 20,000 calls a month , providing support particularly to those who found themselves even more isolated and cut off due to the pandemic .
Pippa is Pastoral Care and Seniors Minister at Holy Trinity Church in Claygate , Surrey , and also an Ambassador for the charity , Faith in Later Life .
Unison urges government to halt staff exodus with emergency retention package
Unison has joined forces with health unions to call on ministers to act urgently with a ‘ game-changing retention package ’, to halt the growing exodus of exhausted staff leaving the NHS .
The independent NHS pay review body ( NHSPRB ), representing 1.2 million health staff across England , has accused ministers of treating the process with contempt .
It says that the number of Omicron-related work absences have shown the NHS is at its most fragile , and with 93,000 vacancies across England , the NHS cannot afford to lose any more staff .
Unison head of health and chair of the joint health unions Sara Gorton said : ‘ A decent wage boost could be just the trick to persuade many burnt-out staff to stay ’. While Royal College of Nursing director of employment relations , Joanne Galbraith-Marten , added : ‘ Exhausted and demoralised staff need to know the government is on their side , not to hear that it is stalling again on NHS pay ’.
The emergency retention package also calls for the lowest paid workers wages to be boosted above real living wage rates , extra shifts worked to be rewarded fairly and limits on excessive hours to prevent burnout . See also pages 18 and 19 .
Exhausted and demoralised staff need to know the government is on their side , not to hear that it is stalling again on NHS pay .”
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February 2022 OTnews 11