FILIPINO NURSES DEMAND JUSTICE
Over five hundred Filipino nurses attended a protest rally outside the headquarters of the Daily Mail London Newspaper on Saturday 30 May 2015 to protest at derogatory articles and headlines which sort to demonise all Filipino nurses for the actions of one evil man, the “alleged” nurse Victorino Chau who happens to be Filipino.
Rommell Abellar, UNISON Organiser
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of Victorino Chau’s victims.
The Filipino nurses have a long tradition of service to the NHS, they could have chosen to nurse in America or Australia but many opted for a health system based on needs of patients UK, a Country that urged them to give up their family commitments to help us provide nursing care.
UNISON estimates that the 13,000 Filipino nurses working in the NHS save the NHS over £300 million a year in private nursing agency fees. This, at a time when the NHS is short of 20,000 nurses.
Michael Walker, UNISON London Nursing Officer
“We condemn poor care wherever it is to be found, regardless of the ethnic origins of the nurse concerned, and we support the highest standards of monitoring and validation of skills.
Evil people don’t just exist amongst people of a different country to our own, evil people are to be found amongst all groups and all professions.
Filipino nurses have a great reputation amongst their colleagues for the quality of care and dedication and to demonise all Filipino nurses for the actions of one evil man is unfair and unacceptable.
We would urge the Daily Mail to print an article addressing the important role overseas nurses play in the UK over the decades in both the NHS and private nursing home sector.”
