Welsh NHS staff advised how to access food banks

An NHS worker was left feeling "sad" and "incredulous" after bosses sent staff an email with advice on how to access food banks.

A body that provides logistical support for the health service across Wales sent the email about the cost of living crisis to all its staff in July.

"It was knowing that people were suffering, and we're just being left to it," the employee said.

The organisation said the email was not intended to cause offence.

A pay increase has been announced for NHS workers in Wales, with doctors, consultants, GPs and nurses in Wales offered between 4% and 5.5%.

The pay rises are below the 9.4% rate of inflation.

The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told BBC Wales the increase was "a step in the right direction" but added: "I don't know how much help that will be considering how much inflation is going up.

"I can't really get started in life on my current wages. I feel very stuck."

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'Things are difficult for many of us'

The email, sent to NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) staff, was entitled "Financial well-being support" and said: "Things are difficult for many of us, with the ongoing cost of living crisis."

Alongside money saving tips for parents on "surviving the school holidays", and information about the Money Helper advice website, it linked to articles on how to access a food bank, and a service providing information on where to find them.

An email to staff at NWSSP provided advice on how to access a food bank

The NWSSP provides a wide range of administrative services to health boards across Wales including procurement, audit and employment support.

The staff member said that after putting in so much extra work during the pandemic the email felt "very hollow - like what we were doing was not appreciated enough by governing bodies".

"I was sad that people were struggling so much that we were left with no other alternative option other than to go to the foodbanks.

"I was a bit incredulous as well that people would be left to suffer after giving so much of their time and energy to helping others."

'No surprise'

Hugh McDyer, head of health at the Unison Cymru Wales union, said it came as "no surprise", and his organisation had seen claims of work poverty and members not being able to pay the bills "rise exponentially".

He said while the advice was in "some ways well intentioned" the irony would not be lost on healthcare workers.

"It's a sad day when our members are having to make choices to heat or eat or go to a food bank to ensure their family does eat," he said.

He said the NHS pay review body's recommendations - which were accepted by the Welsh government - were "simply not enough".

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An NWSSP spokesperson said: "A health and well-being themed internal communication was circulated to NWSSP staff on 13 July 2022, in response to a series of questions from our staff."

The spokesperson said it included "a minor reference about how to access a foodbank".

They added that the organisation recognised "the incredible hard work, commitment and dedication that our staff undertake on a day to day basis" and that the email "was not intended to cause offence but rather communicate the wide range of support on offer".

Plaid Cymru's health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "Last week's pay announcement - way below the sky-high inflation figures - represented a real terms pay cut. That means increasing in-work poverty, something that has scandalously become all-too-common.

"This message from health bosses, pointing staff to food banks, shows how far we've gone down the road of thinking this is somehow 'normal'. It isn't."

Last week's pay announcements by the Welsh government angered trade unions after both game in below inflation.

The Royal College of Nurses (RCN) said it would ballot members on possible industrial action, and two teaching unions are also expected to ask if their members want to do the same.

The Welsh government declined to respond but pointed to its statement last week, where Health Minister Eluned Morgan said "without additional funding from the UK government, there are inevitably limits to how far we can go in Wales".

The UK government previously said the Welsh government has had more funding than at any time since devolution began.

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