News / Pay reform key to seven-day working plan

Further reform of national pay and conditions are needed to support the seven-day delivery of services and ensure financial stability, NHS Employers has told the NHS pay review bodies.

In its submissions, NHS Employers said pay restraint was essential in the face of rising demand and unprecedented financial and efficiency challenges.

A 1% pay rise across the board, as in the current financial year, would add £500m to the pay bill. This would be unaffordable and unnecessary.

It urged the bodies to freeze pay scales for all staff in 2014/15, insisting there was no evidence pay rises were needed to boost recruitment or retention.

It said further cost pressures were on the horizon for employers in the NHS, including additional pension and national insurance contributions.

NHS Employers chief executive Dean Royles said this pay round was significant. ‘It comes at a crucial point in NHS pay reform discussions – reforms that are needed if patients are to be treated and cared for properly and more effectively seven days a week.

‘NHS pay is already competitive and increasing year on year for most staff,’ he said.  ‘If the pay review body is minded to increase pay, we have asked that this be deferred to facilitate pay reform and support negotiations on terms and conditions.’

Union Unite called for an across-the-board cash increase, bottom loaded to help the lower paid. It said a ‘living wage’ of £7.45 an hour outside London (£8.55 in the city) would cost the NHS £5m a year.