Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

The government is being callous in taking nurses for granted

By Amit Roy

ARGUING why NHS staff should be generously re­warded for all they have done during the pandemic – and not the insult­ing one per cent offered by the government – I referred recently to the critical care nurse, Dawn Bilbrough.


She was the one re­duced to tears last year when confronted by empty supermarket shelves after coming off a 48-hour shift.

She had pleaded with people not to indulge in panic buying: “You just need to stop it because it’s people like me that are going to be looking after you when you are at your lowest, so just stop it. Please.”

It is distressing to learn that someone as dedicated as her is now thinking of leaving after 20 years in nursing. It is partly because the past year had been “relentless, incredibly traumatic and emotionally and physically exhausting”.

Dawn, who later de­veloped coronavirus symptoms herself, re­called: “I was once working in a pod where there were four patients with Covid. I left my shift at 20.00 in the evening. When I returned the next day, all the pa­tients had died. And that’s been difficult be­cause I’ve felt a bond to my patients.”

Dawn, who is 52 and from York, said: “Long-term I am reconsidering my future. I will certainly remain in nursing for the foreseeable, but long-term I’m not really sure what my plans are.”

Money is not every­thing, but the government would be ill-advised to exploit the sense of duty shown by nurses. It would be a great loss to nurs­ing if Dawn were to quit.

There is also the heart-breaking story of Areema Nasreen, who, at 36, was one of the youngest nurses to die from Covid in March last year. She had worked at the Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands.

The last time her younger sister, Kazeema Afzal, 33, saw her was when Areema was wheeled into intensive care. Inspired by her sister’s example, Kazee­ma is now training to be a nurse. Areema sent a final message to Kazee­ma through a colleague shortly before she died.

“She said, ‘My sister... I want her to follow in my footsteps’,” revealed Kazeema. “That was the last thing she said.”

It is hard not to think the government is being callous in taking nurses for granted.

More For You

One year on, Starmer still has no story — but plenty of regrets

Sir Keir Starmer

Getty Images

One year on, Starmer still has no story — but plenty of regrets

Do not expect any parties in Downing Street to celebrate the government’s first birthday on Friday (4). After a rocky year, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had more than a few regrets when giving interviews about his first year in office.

He explained that he chose the wrong chief of staff. That his opening economic narrative was too gloomy. That choosing the winter fuel allowance as a symbol of fiscal responsibility backfired. Starmer ‘deeply regretted’ the speech he gave to launch his immigration white paper, from which only the phrase ‘island of strangers’ cut through. Can any previous political leader have been quite so self-critical of their own record in real time?

Keep ReadingShow less
starmer-bangladesh-migration
Sir Keir Starmer
Getty Images

Comment: Can Starmer turn Windrush promises into policy?

Anniversaries can catalyse action. The government appointed the first Windrush Commissioner last week, shortly before Windrush Day, this year marking the 77th anniversary of the ship’s arrival in Britain.

The Windrush generation came to Britain believing what the law said – that they were British subjects, with equal rights in the mother country. But they were to discover a different reality – not just in the 1950s, but in this century too. It is five years since Wendy Williams proposed this external oversight in her review of the lessons of the Windrush scandal. The delay has damaged confidence in the compensation scheme. Williams’ proposal had been for a broader Migrants Commissioner role, since the change needed in Home Office culture went beyond the treatment of the Windrush generation itself.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh’s ‘Sapphire’ collaboration misses the mark

The song everyone is talking about this month is Sapphire – Ed Sheeran’s collaboration with Arijit Singh. But instead of a true duet, Arijit takes more of a backing role to the British pop superstar, which is a shame, considering he is the most followed artist on Spotify. The Indian superstar deserved a stronger presence on the otherwise catchy track. On the positive side, Sapphire may inspire more international artists to incorporate Indian elements into their music. But going forward, any major Indian names involved in global collaborations should insist on equal billing, rather than letting western stars ride on their popularity.

  Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh

Keep ReadingShow less
If ayatollahs fall, who will run Teheran next?

Portraits of Iranian military generals and nuclear scientists, killed in Israel’s last Friday (13) attack, are seen above a road, as heavy smoke rises from an oil refinery in southern Teheran hit in an overnight Israeli strike last Sunday (15)

If ayatollahs fall, who will run Teheran next?

THERE is one question to which none of us has the answer: if the ayatollahs are toppled, who will take over in Teheran?

I am surprised that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, has lasted as long as he has. He is 86, and would achieve immortality as a “martyr” in the eyes of regime supporters if the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, succeeded in assassinating him. This was apparently Netanyahu’s plan, though he was apparently dissuaded by US president Donald Trump from going ahead with the killing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Comment: Talking about race isn’t racist – ignoring it helped grooming gangs thrive

A woman poses with a sign as members of the public queue to enter a council meeting during a protest calling for justice for victims of sexual abuse and grooming gangs, outside the council offices at City Centre on January 20, 2025 in Oldham, England

Getty Images

Comment: Talking about race isn’t racist – ignoring it helped grooming gangs thrive

WAS a national inquiry needed into so-called grooming gangs? Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer did not think so in January, but now accepts Dame Louise Casey’s recommendation to commission one.

The previous Conservative government – having held a seven-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse – started loudly championing a new national inquiry once it lost the power to call one. Casey explains why she changed her mind too after her four-month, rapid audit into actions taken and missed on group-based exploitation and abuse. A headline Casey theme is the ‘shying away’ from race.

Keep ReadingShow less