Low-level NHS pay rise will not stave off post-Covid exodus, warns nursing leader ahead of Budget
A low-level pay rise for NHS workers – similar to that given to other public sector workers last year - will not be sufficient to prevent an exodus from nursing after the pandemic and patients will pay the price, warns the Royal College of Nursing today (Friday).
The chancellor must use Wednesday’s Budget to add to central NHS budgets for the explicit purpose of increasing staff pay levels, the nursing leader says.
A pay increase of 12.5 per cent this year, for nursing and other NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts, would increase the NHS wage bill in England by £4.25 bn. The College outlined the level and headline cost of a pay increase in a formal submission to HM Treasury ahead of the Budget.
Rishi Sunak exempted NHS workers from the wider public sector pay pause in November last year. However, an experienced nurse – whose salary has already fallen by 15.3 per cent in real terms over ten years - would take home less than £10 extra per week if he replicates recent pay awards.
In July 2020, the chancellor agreed pay increases of 2-3 per cent for nine other areas of the public sector.
The RCN’s general secretary argues small increases will not be enough to support hospitals and other parts of the NHS to retain staff more than one year into the pandemic. The quality of patient care is already adversely impacted by tens of thousands of nursing vacancies in England’s NHS.
Last year, a survey of RCN members revealed that 36 per cent were thinking of leaving the profession with many citing pay as the key factor.
The proportion of older registered nurses has grown over a relatively short period too. In 2015, 17.3% were aged 56 or over; in 2020, it is 20.8%.
In January, independent analysis by London Economics found that 81 per cent of the headline cost of a pay rise in the NHS is returned to the Treasury.
The NHS Pay Review Body is expected to make recommendations for ministers later this year.
Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, said:
“The chancellor has a choice at next week’s Budget. He can demonstrate that he is listening to NHS staff by identifying the multi-billion-pound sum needed for a significant pay award. Or he can offer more warms words.
“An experienced nurse, who might have worked ten or twenty years in the NHS, deserves more than a few extra pounds per week after this brutal year. They are already worse off than ten years ago, contrary to claims from the Prime Minister and others.
“Nursing staff are exhausted and morale is on the floor – too many are telling me they fear an exodus of their colleagues once the pandemic pressure truly abates.
“The eyes of the NHS are on the government. It must show it is prepared to rise to this challenge. The country is already tens of thousands of nurses short and it is patients who pay a price for that.”
Ends
Notes to editors
In 2020-21, the total NHS pay bill was estimated to be £34.00bn. An across-the-board 12.5% pay increase applied to all pay elements would result in a £4.25bn increase in total pay in 2021-22, to £38.25bn.
The salary for experienced nursing staff of £30,615 in 2020-21 (top spine point of band 5, Agenda for Change) would increase to £31,380 under a 2.5% pay award in 2021-22. This would result in weekly take home pay increasing by an estimated £9 from £426 to £435.
The London Economics report on the net Exchequer impact of increasing NHS pay can be found here
