A new poll has revealed that less than five per cent of NHS staff think that the government has handled the coronavirus pandemic well.

In the survey of almost 3,500 health workers, the GMB union reports that only 4.9 per cent answered that the government was doing a good job during the crisis. Almost half said they thought the government had handled the pandemic badly and had made the situation worse.

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer, said: “NHS staff have been badly let down by Ministers throughout this pandemic – it's no wonder they don’t think the government is doing a good job. It’s a year into the crisis and we’ve still got ambulance workers attending patients with flimsy gowns and paper masks instead of proper PPE and nurses in hospitals working amongst covid patients given only the most basic of surgical masks.

“And while other key-workers have been given recognition for their efforts – NHS staff are still waiting. They are still suffering negative consequences from the last pay settlement - which GMB members rejected. Ministers admitted this week the NHS needs radical reform to repair ten years of Tory privatisation – the first change they must make is to give staff the pay and protection they need to carry on saving lives.”