Pay freeze and pressure hitting NHS workers hard
20 September 2011
Health unions* are warning today (20 September) that a toxic
combination of increasing demand, shrinking resources and the pay
freeze, are putting staff under severe pressure. The impact of the
proposed pension changes and the massive programme of NHS reforms
in the Health and Social Care Bill, are adding even more to the
stress felt by staff.
In their joint evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body, the unions,
which represent staff including nurses, midwives, paramedics,
therapists, porters, cooks and cleaners, highlight increasing
concerns about how they can maintain the quality of patient
care.
High inflation and the Government¹s pay freeze have resulted in
a big drop in the value of NHS pay over the last few years.
Many NHS staff are suffering financial hardship and the £250 given
to the lowest paid has been soaked up by the impact of changes to
tax credits, childcare fees and the rising cost of basic essentials
such as food and fuel.
Christina McAnea, UNISON, NHS Staff-Side Chair said: ³Stability
is vital in any workforce - more so during a period of change. The
current turmoil in the NHS is undermining staff morale and
threatening the delivery of high quality patient care.
On top of job cuts and ward closures, growing waiting lists and an
attack on their pension, staff face a reorganisation on an
unprecedented scale.
³By imposing a pay freeze for the second year running the
Government is adding insult to injury. Pay has never been generous
in the NHS and, with inflation rising, many families are struggling
to cover the costs of even basic essentials.
Josie Irwin, RCN, Staff-Side Secretary said: "Coalition policy
means that nurses face suffering a second year of pay cuts.
This comes on top of unprecedented change and upheaval in the
NHS - leading to low morale, uncertainty and
insecurity. The RCN calls on the pay review body to
recognise that further attacks on pay will only do more damage to
recruitment and retention in the NHS."
Stephen Austin, Head of Employment Relations for the BDA Trade
Union said: ³For years the public have supported the workers in the
NHS to get a fair rate of pay for the caring and committed work
that they do and this was achieved by the last government, but the
current government under the disguise of necessary cuts are
returning health workers back into the position of being poorly
paid².
Rehana Azam GMB National Officer, Head of NHS said "At a time
when working people are dealing with their own deficits as
the
cost of living increases including the essentials like childcare,
fuel and food. Wage stagnation and the position directed from
Government to Pay Review Bodies is unhelpful and unfair.
³Public Sector workers are being attacked on a daily basis by
this Government and the propaganda distributed about public sector
workers with the attempts to put private sector workers against
public sector workers will reveal that this Government's only
agenda is to undermine the hard working people of this country by
making them pay for a deficit which was not their making. All
employers in this country are expected to negotiate, consult and
agree changes to employment terms and conditions and the
bullying tactics applied by this Government in imposing changes to
public sector workers terms and conditions will be challenged and
stopped".
Rachael Maskell, Head of Health, Unite, said: " The Pay Review
Body continues to play an important role in providing
independent and robust evidence on the remuneration of NHS
employees. The NHS workforce are facing unprecedented challenges to
their pay, in the midst of mass re-organisation and cuts, in some
cases losing 25% in pay as a result. These cuts to services
and employment terms are causing morale in the NHS to fall
significantly. We are hopeful that this year's Pay Review
Body will ensure that NHS staff are remunerated fairly to ensure
that they stop falling behind other sections of the workforce and
economy. Unite further hopes that the Pay Review Body will address
the recruitment and retention challenges for pharmacists, and
estates and maintenance workers in this year's review."
Maintaining stability among a workforce subject to political and
organisational reform and financial trimming will be paramount if
the NHS is to continue to deliver high quality care. The
evidence highlights the risk to the NHS of a move away from our UK
wide harmonised Agenda for Change agreement.
*British Association of Occupational Therapists, British
Dietetic Association, British Orthoptic Society, Chartered Society
of
Physiotherpists, Federation of Clinical Scientists, GMB, Royal
College of Midwives, Royal College of Nursing, Society of
Chiropodists and Podiatrists, Society of Radiographers, UCATT,
UNISON, Unite.
