UK: NHS 3% pay rise slammed as 'insulting' and 'shambolic'

[Resurgence]

The NHS pay rise announcement has been slammed as "insulting" and "shambolic" by the Royal College of Nursing and the GMB Union.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced earlier today that NHS staff, including nurses, paramedics, consultants, and dentists in England, are set to receive a 3 per cent pay rise backdated to April, after the Government accepted the recommendations of the pay review body.

He said the pay rise recognised the "extraordinary efforts" of staff, with the Department of Health and Social Care adding that it would mean an additional £1,000 per year for the average nurse and a £540 annual increase for porters and cleaners.

The GMB union said the “insulting” 3% pay rise offer had been “sneaked out as MPs are packing up for summer holidays”.

Rachel Harrison, GMB national officer, said: “Hospitals and ambulance services are operating under extreme pressures due to rising demand and staffing shortages.

“Now, rather than focusing on staff welfare they are being advised to enter the workplace against self-isolation advice and now given this frankly appalling pay offer.

“This was the opportunity for Government to turn their clapping into genuine recognition. Their response is paltry. They have failed spectacularly.

“NHS workers know their worth and so do the public – shame on the government who don’t.”

Unite national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe described the 3% pay recommendation as “grossly inadequate and underwhelming”.

He said:

“The Pay Review Body’s recommendation of 3% is grossly inadequate and underwhelming, and in no way recognises the 19% drop in real earnings that many NHS workers have endured in the last decade, nor the herculean sacrifices that health staff have and are continuing to make as Covid infection rates rapidly rise again.

“Members have been telling us that 3% would be insulting and show that they are not valued – it doesn’t even match the 4% the Scottish Government offered to NHS workers backdated to December 2020.

“New Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid must give a ‘golden hello’ pay award to NHS staff and open the purse strings so we can have an NHS fit for purpose for the 2020s.

“Unite will be consulting widely with our 100,000 members in the health service in the coming days and weeks as to the next steps which will include a consultative ballot on industrial action.”

The Royal College of Nursing described the announcement as “shambolic”.

In a statement to the PA news agency, RCN interim general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said:

“After a shambolic day, comes a shambolic announcement. When the Treasury expects inflation to be 3.7%, ministers are knowingly cutting pay for an experienced nurse by over £200 in real-terms.

“Hospitals and other parts of the NHS are struggling to recruit nurses and healthcare support workers. The Government has been warned that many more are on the verge of leaving. With today’s decision, ministers have made it even harder to provide safe care to patients.

“This announcement is light on detail. It must be fully funded with additional monies for the NHS and ringfenced for the workforce bill.

“Nursing staff will remain dignified in responding to what will be a bitter blow to many. But the profession will not take this lying down. We will be consulting our members on what action they would like to take next.”

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/uk...ay-5683123