THERE has never been a time when our NHS workers have been in such sharp public focus. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the skill, compassion, versatility and commitment of everyone from nurses, administrators, consultants, dietitians, phlebotomists, podiatrists, radiographers, physiotherapists and others. 

Some have thrived but so many others are broken. The pandemic has had a severe impact on staff — they have been under huge amounts of pressure and are exhausted, traumatised and are now struggling with their own physical and mental health.

This situation has been compounded by severe understaffing, with vacancy rates consistently running at above 100,000 before 2020. 

This, coupled with low pay, is leaving our NHS staff feeling demoralised and undervalued.

The core values of the NHS, applicable to staff and patients, are contained within its constitution and include: working together for patients; commitment to quality of care; improving lives; everyone counts and respect and dignity. 

These values can only be truly meaningful with a valued and properly rewarded workforce and adequate resources.

Pay is a significant and immediate issue. In real terms, adjusted for inflation, average NHS pay remains below where it was in 2010. 

For most groups, this drop happened largely during the period of public-sector austerity up to about 2017, with some recovery after that. 

Allied health professionals including dietitians and podiatrists along with nurses, for example, reached a low point of a 9 per cent real-terms drop in pay from 2010 to 2017: their average pay now is around 5 per cent less than a decade ago. It is appalling that four in 10 NHS workers are in receipt of a state benefit.

The most recent national survey of NHS staff clearly demonstrated that there is a real problem with work-related sickness and problems with inadequate staffing levels. 

Results included 44 per cent of staff reporting feeling unwell as a result of work-related stress and almost 30 per cent experiencing muscular-skeletal problems as a result of work activities.

Staff shortages are impeding effective working which will inevitably have a detrimental effect on patient care. 

One third of staff are in agreement that there are not enough staff at their organisation for them to do their job properly, and because they are utterly committed to patients and providing the best possible care that they can, over half of them continue to work additional unpaid hours on a weekly basis.

This is a totally unacceptable and unsustainable situation — one which clapping will not resolve. 

A publicly owned and properly funded NHS, free at the point of delivery should be the shining light of a civilised society. One which we should be proud of and should guard with our lives. 

It should never be a feeding ground for capitalist “friends” of the government, as some aspects of it have become over the course of the recent pandemic. 

Meaningful and sustained public investment is urgently required to ensure the future of our NHS and the incredible staff who provide such dedicated and skilled services to patients. 

This investment should come from those who can afford to pay for it, the highest earners, the wealth holders, the tax avoiders, not the workers themselves — and certainly not pensioners through an unfair hike in National Insurance contributions.

So finally, we are calling for investment in staffing, better access to flexible working, less reliance on expensive bank and agency staff. 

Staff need protected time to recover from the mental and physical effects of the pandemic and, importantly, a meaningful and sustainable pay rise to address the years of shortfall. Only then can we really say that our NHS team is truly valued.

Annette Mansell-Green director of trade union and public affairs at the British Dietetic Association.