#ProtectNHSWorkers 

The Campaign

EveryDoctor is a campaigning organisation representing 1700 UK doctors. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it built a cross-party coalition of 104 MPs to lobby for essential protections for NHS staff in their workplaces. 

They began campaigning during the first wave of Covid-19, when it was clear that NHS staff didn’t have adequate PPE and many were dying after their exposure to the virus. 

#ProtectNHSWorkers raised awareness through the media, featuring in UK and international publications over 2000 times in 2020. It also ran weekly briefings for UK MPs, who had insufficient access to expert information from doctors as the pandemic wreaked havoc on all of our lives. By working with artists, it created materials that attracted attention and built connection to the campaign.  

Volunteers and the public encouraged their MPs to work with EveryDoctor on letters, Parliamentary Questions and other actions to press for the protections NHS staff so desperately needed.  

The Change

The efforts of EveryDoctor to secure safe PPE contributed to: 

• the provision of eye protection for all healthcare workers 
• death-in-service benefits for healthcare workers, and 
• first dose vaccines for frontline NHS staff who faced continual exposure to Covid-19 in their workplaces.  

The Future

The pandemic is not over. EveryDoctor is calling for a national Covid-19 trauma recovery plan that properly supports frontline staff, who have endured so much for so many. It is working to maintain cross-party relationships with many politicians and continues to lobby for a 15% pay rise for all NHS staff (who’ve experienced real-terms pay cuts of up to 30% since 2010).

It says that the NHS has been underfunded for too long and it believes this has a negative impact on NHS staff and patients. It also opposes what it sees as covert NHS privatisation, which threatens the future of the NHS.

It will keep building its platform to speak up for NHS staff and patients.