3% rise for NHS workers , is it enough?

[thecatmother]

With shame I admit, that I have hardly given a thought to how hard our NHS workers have it, or how little they earned. Last couple of years have really put it into perspective for me, pandemic and personal circumstances.
This news just popped on my phone screen, 3% is pitiful.

In comparison, I have a cousin who settled in the US and is a nurse in A&E(City hospital, so not private) and her salary is 83$k per year. And she lives a very comfortable life, compared perhaps to upper middle class here.
We celebrate our NHS and, on our side,we pay our taxes, so why is it only 3%?

After working as a nurse for 7 years, I’m at the bottom of band 6, so my current salary is £31,365. A 3% increase is just over £940 per year, so just over £74 per month before tax.I’m not money grabbing by any means, but the amount of blood, sweat, sacrifice and academic effort that I’ve had to put in to get here, plus the level of responsibility that I carry... well, it’s pretty insulting, to be honest. I do the job for the love of it, but it’s not money grabbing to want to be recognised for the work that we do and the years that we spend building our expertise.

To those talking about yearly increments. These don't exist anymore. Now you get the starting salary then a rise after either three years or after 5 years. Given that there are small differences between the top of one band and the next (maybe a thousand pounds or so) it makes promotion much more unattractive. Here, have a lot more responsibility for a pay rise in 5 years time and no increase in your pension either until then. Its SO badly designed for workers (though not if your objective is to save money).

I ENTIRELY blame the nurses who voted yes to the pay agreement a few years ago and their union who advised them so poorly. Because they are the largest number of professionals who Agenda for Change affects, their vote carries the day and the rest of us have to suck it up.

@BackforGood

3% is just a crude, headline figure.

Giving EVERY PERSON that works in such a massive organisation as the NHS, from the best paid top consultants and CEOs to the porters, cleaners, catering staff, SaLT assts., maternity assts, etc etc etc, just widens the pay gap even more, so it isn't helpful, no.

It means someone on £15,000 pa gets an extra £450 per year.
Someone on £300,000 pa gets an extra £9000 per year.
I doesn't really help those that need it most.

Plus, if you have been working for "the public purse" for 20, 30, 40 years, and constantly getting either no payrise or a payrise that is less than the rate of inflation, then you are probably owed something like a 30, 40, or 50% payrise to make things "right".

A headline figure like this won't pay the bills for the overwhelming majority of people who work for the NHS .

This, this, this, this.

And being appalled by the offer isn’t really about the pandemic. That has been the final straw. It’s about the years and years of underfunding, the horrific working conditions, of being underpaid and overworked and taken advantage of. For years. And then the shit hit the fan and the staff were still there picking up the pieces and they’ve been insulted over and over and over. And nowadays pay rise that will be cancelled out by inflation and tax, hitting those that get paid the least, the most .

Personally, if I were looking at a repeat of next year, but worse, I'd be thinking 'fuck this for a game of soldiers'. I wouldn't be giving a crap about a clap.

PP summed up exactly where I am right now. And it’s really hard to walk away from your vocation

I also agree that wages for lower bands (i.e. admin and clinical support staff) are absolutely shocking. They are the vital backbone for all nurses and doctors.

@Starface

To those talking about yearly increments. These don't exist anymore. Now you get the starting salary then a rise after either three years or after 5 years. Given that there are small differences between the top of one band and the next (maybe a thousand pounds or so) it makes promotion much more unattractive. Here, have a lot more responsibility for a pay rise in 5 years time and no increase in your pension either until then. Its SO badly designed for workers (though not if your objective is to save money).

I ENTIRELY blame the nurses who voted yes to the pay agreement a few years ago and their union who advised them so poorly. Because they are the largest number of professionals who Agenda for Change affects, their vote carries the day and the rest of us have to suck it up.

Agreed.

And to make things worse, the pay step increments aren’t automatic. If you get a manager who has it in for you then you won’t get it.

I think it's a reasonable increase.

And job security isn't a given in the NHS, I'm currently applying for my job again as they are cutting 4 posts down to 1. Nursing management post. I'm crippled by the stress of the job at the moment, god knows how it will be at a 75% increase in workload. But hey, as long as our prime minister can have his house redecorated and posh food delivered at a ridiculous cost, I'm sure I can continue to work overtime on the wards to claw myself out of my overdraft.

It's not enough. I'm an ICU nurse and the things I have experienced and seen over the past 18 months has left me scarred for life.

Yes I think it's a fair increase, would I like to pay the NHS staff more absolutely I would but there are other key workers who will not be getting an increase not to mention they also had job security during a national crisis.

I think there should be a payment for those who worked on the covid wards during the pandemic as that must have been tough.

Unison was campaigning for a £2,000 increase for all staff, which they argued was fairer to staff on lower bands.

I'm pretty sure that increments still exist.

It's fine of course 3% is fine! It's not like they save people's lives or anything.

Oh wait...

Should be closer to 30% than 3% for what they do!

"And being appalled by the offer isn’t really about the pandemic. That has been the final straw. It’s about the years and years of underfunding, the horrific working conditions, of being underpaid and overworked and taken advantage of. For years. And then the shit hit the fan and the staff were still there picking up the pieces and they’ve been insulted over and over and over. And nowadays pay rise that will be cancelled out by inflation and tax, hitting those that get paid the least, the most"

This, a million times over. A PP said that it's stuck in their throat that NHS staff demanded 15% but that's because of years and years of pay freezes, not the pandemic. Years of being overworked and they're still there after shit has hit the fan, and they're still not getting the appreciation they deserve.
I'm fairly newly qualified but I have worked my socks off this last year. I'm not a nurse but I've found myself on our ITU to support the nurses over there. I've had pressure sores on my nose and my ears from my mask and I think I've got nerve damage in the back of my head from it too. I've put myself and my family at risk so I can look after others. Ive watched people die and I've cried for them. People generally don't die in my department so it's not something I'm used to at all. It's been hard and I can barely afford to pay my bills. I'm just lucky I have a good partner who helps support me. This 3% pay rise will just about cover the parking charges that are inevitably coming back in.

I think some people are forgetting that we also have the privilege of paying to do our jobs as health care practitioners.
Degrees are no longer funded. Student loans are a chunk of your salary gone.
No further training funded.
Have to paying for our own registration fees and portfolios and uniforms and name badges!
It’s entire years of your life dedicated to studying the most complex disciplines there are, to get to a salary that isn’t even worth it.

@NursePotato

It's not enough. I'm an ICU nurse and the things I have experienced and seen over the past 18 months has left me scarred for life.

Thank you for your hard work. I don't think it's enough also, there should be a robust overview of pay grades .

They should check their privileges

Ah yes, I'll make sure to check it whilst zipping up my hazmat suit to go into a covid AGP bay, in the 30 degree heat with no air con allowed.
All for £9 an hour.

Privilege checked.

@Shitfuckcommaetc

They should check their privileges

Ah yes, I'll make sure to check it whilst zipping up my hazmat suit to go into a covid AGP bay, in the 30 degree heat with no air con allowed.
All for £9 an hour.

Privilege checked.

I’m going to check my privilege on my next lunch break…. Oh wait….

I work in the NHS, but not front line. In all reality I think that the agenda for change pay and conditions need to change. I think that front line staff should be on a different scale that reflects their work.

I am in awe of my NHS colleagues who save lives on a daily basis.

To those of you who talk about NHS staff having great pay and conditions compared to other industries I suggest that you put your money where your mouth is and retrain in the NHS. Lord knows we are crying out for more staff.

I think it should be more but more targeted. I work for the NHS but I don't deserve a pay rise because of covid. Our service went remote for the initial 12 weeks of lockdown because it could. We then came back but with decent PPE and rules that outpatients respected. I would happily give my 3% to supermarket workers who didn't have the choices I had. Or to the ICU nurses who've been through things they shouldn't ever have had to go through.

I don't deserve 3% because of covid but many NHS staff deserve so much more.

My privilege of 30 mins unpaid lunchbreak - yeah - great

The people who work in the NHS (I'm assuming it's a vocational thing, because God knows it ain't the pay, and very rarely the glory - albeit without the pay), are literally the ambulance at the bottom of our cliff. Who do you want to be there? The NHS and the ambulance, or the broken shards of glass? We're mere mortals. We're not going to get the Royal or the PM treatment. If you opt for the NHS, do you want them to have good physical and mental health treatment for themselves, as they treat you, or are you okay if they're exhausted, and traumatised?

@Cam2020

Not every NHS worker was flat out during Covid - many departments had no work at all. 3% is a great deal more than many got this year!

That is true. With routine surgery cancelled, and hardly any trauma, we did an awful lot of colouring and cleaning.

I worked so hard over the last year. I didn’t come into nursing for the pay (obviously!) but it does break my soul a little that I give so much and still don’t really have much at all. My friends who work in marketing earn double what I do (our roles aren’t comparable) but the realities of their day to day job isn’t life or death and sometimes I think as a society, we’re a bit backwards when it comes to how we treat HCPs.

Whoever said HCAs are less valuable than consultants - ha. HAHHAHAHAHHHA. Ha. I’d be on my arse without our HCAs.

@BackforGood

3% is just a crude, headline figure.

Giving EVERY PERSON that works in such a massive organisation as the NHS, from the best paid top consultants and CEOs to the porters, cleaners, catering staff, SaLT assts., maternity assts, etc etc etc, just widens the pay gap even more, so it isn't helpful, no.

It means someone on £15,000 pa gets an extra £450 per year.
Someone on £300,000 pa gets an extra £9000 per year.
I doesn't really help those that need it most.

Plus, if you have been working for "the public purse" for 20, 30, 40 years, and constantly getting either no payrise or a payrise that is less than the rate of inflation, then you are probably owed something like a 30, 40, or 50% payrise to make things "right".

A headline figure like this won't pay the bills for the overwhelming majority of people who work for the NHS .

Thank you.

Finally, someone who understands.

As a relatively new consultant working approximately 20% over standard full time hours, this works out at about £3000 per year, which sounds like a lot...

However, the cost of public sector pay freezes since 2008 has cost me directly £130,000 in take home pay based on shortfall compared to RPI inflation. My pension value has been cut by around £200k and my salary pension contribution been increased from 11.5% to 13.5% (£54,000 in increased contributions over a career).

The real kicker is that this 3% 'increase' in pay could very well push me over the annual allowance for pension growth and cause a tax bill of around £28,000, payable immediately, or as a loan from my pension pot with interest added every year for the next 25 years of my career...

@gollyh

It makes no odds if others think it's enough, if health care staff dont agree then look out for things getting even worse in the NHS as even more staff vote with their feet.

But how do you get the general population to accept the above. They will always want someone else to pay eg the bankers or facebook.

I know it’s ridiculous, the public want and expect something but don’t want the Government to prioritise it! Then they moan that the NHS isn’t good enough 🤦‍♀️