The NHS needs cold hard cash to deal with coronavirus demand – not a feel-good honours list

We’d all have to pony up a bit more in tax to support frontline workers, and I’m OK with that. Polls tend to suggest that the majority is with me too

Do we need a special NHS honours list to recognise the ongoing heroism of its staff, which includes people who are literally putting their lives on the line?

It’s an attractive idea, isn’t it? It would give the nation a chance to show its gratitude to people widely regarded as deserving of recognition and maybe offer some catharsis in the process.

But who do you honour? Who do you recognise?

It would be quite wrong to single out those at the top of the organisation, which is often the way in Britain, because for all the good work many of its leaders have done, there is also an army of individual doctors, nurses, ambulance crews and support staff who work lower down the ladder and will be equally deserving, if not more so.

The sheer number of people who’ve jumped into the fire simply because that’s what needs to be done means you’d probably need to buy up half of South America’s mines to get all the medals made.

And it’s not just the NHS. That’s where the focus inevitably lies, because, well duh.

But there many are other key workers who have similarly done things worthy of note, often at great risk to themselves.

Some of them have been conscripted but that hasn’t stopped them and doesn’t detract in the slightest from what they’ve been doing.

Want an example? Teachers, and the oft-forgotten classroom assistants, who’ve turned up, and still are turning up to ensure the children of key workers and those who are vulnerable have somewhere to go, even if that means potentially exposing themselves to Covid-19.

My wife might have been one of them, but she’s currently battling the virus herself.

That’s just one example. There are many others. Hell, let’s be honest here, there are a lot of people working in Tesco or Sainsbury’s or one of the other supermarkets who probably deserve a medal or two given what they’ve had to put up with in recent days.

Here’s a question: does an honour even mean anything in today’s Britain?

Take knighthoods, at the top of the pile. Among those they’ve been conferred upon are Philip Green, the Monaco-based retail tycoon arguably best known for his greed, and Iain Duncan-Smith, the hammer of the disabled, architect of the Conservative Party’s cruel welfare reforms.

Is being called “Sir” really an honour if it means keeping company with them?

Then there’s the fact that the fetid stench of sleaze is rarely far away from British honours system. Bung a political party some cash, grease the right palms, or just walk through the right voting lobby for long enough and it won’t be long before you get the call asking if you’d be interested in a meeting with the HRH.

Honours for the NHS, and for other key workers, would, I think, still mean something to those they were conferred upon. There are a lot of people who would be touched, not to mention their families.

But maybe there’s another way we can show our appreciation, even better than Hugh Laurie’s tempting tweeted suggestion of buying everyone in the health service a bottle of something (there’d need to be a non-alcoholic option).

It’s simple, relatively easy to accomplish and ensures everyone gets the recognition they deserve.

You’ve probably guessed it by now: it is to pay the NHS, and indeed all public sector staff, properly. Maybe we all have to pony up a bit more in tax to get it done. Fine. I’m ok with that. If you’re not, I don’t much care. Polls have tended to suggest that the majority is with me and that people are ready to pay a bit more for better public services, and that’s what we’d get if we paid people fairly for what they do.

While we’re at it, let’s also have an end to the political hectoring the public sector is too often asked to put up with. Let me be clear here: I don’t mean we should shield public services from accountability. The NHS isn’t perfect. Not all hospitals perform as they should, nor does every member of staff. The same is true of schools and other institutions. They can, and should, always look to improve.

It’s more a question of tone. What needs to end is the bullying and the berating from politicians who would often be better off looking at their own house (or House), ditto inspectorates (looking at you here, Ofsted).

We can get this done. At the ballot box. And voters, take note if your MP is among those engaging in hectoring and write to them to politely express your display. They still take notice of letters, at least most of them do.

As for the private sector, well, that’s even easier. Steering cash away from bad employers and towards good ones that pay properly will help them to do what’s needed and hire more people.