Significant pay rise needed to stop staff exodus

27 May 2022 Seamus Ward

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sara_gorton lChancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled measures on Thursday that will give all households at least £400 off their energy bills. And NHS vacancies have fallen recently, though they still stand at 105,000. But Unison has written to health and care secretary Sajid Javid saying significant action on pay is needed to stop an exodus of staff, leaving for higher-paid jobs in other parts of the economy.

The union warned that staff departures would lead to ‘longer ambulance queues outside hospitals, ever-increasing waiting lists and people who are in desperate need of treatment getting sicker’.

More than 35,000 NHS staff and members of the public have signed the letter online, asking for fair pay for health service workers. The letter adds: ‘We are asking you to put NHS pay right. What every NHS employee needs – from nurses and paramedics to porters and healthcare assistants – is a decent wage rise and genuine measures to convince them to stay.’

Unison head of health Sara Gorton (pictured) said: ‘This is a desperate situation with NHS staff already quitting in their droves. The government can no longer put its head in the sand over this crisis.

‘It’s patients who will suffer when there are too few staff to provide proper care. Ministers must ensure workers are encouraged to stay with an above-inflation wage rise and an end to poverty pay.’

No trade-off

The government has told the NHS pay review body that the service could afford a 2% to 3% pay rise in 2022/23, but any more would affect patient services. However, NHS Providers interim chief executive Saffron Cordery urged the government to approve and fully fund ‘a proper pay rise’.

She added: ‘Like everyone else, NHS staff are affected by the soaring cost of living and need a substantial pay rise, which must be fully funded by the government. A failure to do so risks putting additional pressure on NHS trusts who will have to make up any shortfall from already stretched budgets – which would take money away from patient care.

‘This must not be a trade-off between more money for pay or for more staff. Fair pay helps to attract and retain high-quality staff. We need national funding and pay structures to ensure that NHS staff get fair pay, and aligning the whole NHS pay system with a rate above the real living wage should be a priority.’

She added that delays in announcing pay awards adversely affected staff morale and made financial planning more difficult for trusts.

The NHS Confederation focused on the lowest-paid staff, arguing that they should be given a higher rise than in 2021/22 to stop the workforce crisis deepening. Supermarkets, high street stores and the hospitality industry are paying at least     £10 an hour – 35p more than the current starting salary on band 2.

Many NHS organisations have set up their own food banks and hardship funds for staff, while others are offering hot meals for £1, the confederation said. It called for a 4% rise for those on band 2 contracts, which would add another £15m to £20m to the NHS pay bill, above that already planned.

Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said: ‘Without a pay rise which at least matches what some parts of the private sector are offering, we are at real risk of a mass exodus of healthcare staff on the lowest pay who are quitting the NHS to search out jobs in better paid sectors including supermarkets, pubs and high street shops.

‘Staff leaving the NHS at a time when they are most needed will also jeopardise the gains the health service is making in clearing the waiting list backlog.’

An announcement on NHS pay rises is expected in June.