This week, we received news of the long-awaited pay award for NHS staff in England – and it was a pitiful 3%. To call it a ‘rise’ is grossly misleading; after a decade of pay restraint that has seen many of us lose up to 20% of our pay, it still works out as a pay cut in real terms. It’s nothing to be celebrated.
Among colleagues, there is a general feeling of despair. One pointed out that with inflation rising, after bills, petrol and council tax are taken into account, we will be left with next to nothing. Another took it as a sign that the government is happy to see the gap between rich and poor increase, and doesn’t seem too bothered by the potential collapse of our health and social care system.
The NHS Pay Review Body report made for interesting reading. In it, the Department for Health and Social Care argued that since the number of NHS staff is increasing, the overall wage bill needed to be taken into consideration when setting pay rates. But why should the demographic changes affecting demand for the NHS make our earnings fall behind those of other professionals? The report also notes that there is an “unsustainable level of overtime undertaken by the workforce”: don’t we just know it. A recruitment crisis has left us desperately trying to plug the gaps, with low pay and dangerous working conditions. We cannot allow this abuse of our workers any longer.
