To think that if NHS staff get a 1% pay rise that is nothing but an insult?

[Bluetoybox]

Given the joke of a pay rise given over the last 3 years, well below inflation in real terms anyway but where the Government also out and out lied by failing to mention that you'd drop an increment step to get your pay rise and now this after all the NHS have done in the last year!!! A decade capped at 1% before the 3 year review and now they want to send us right back to 1%
Absolutely disgusted!

I work for the NHS and I'm ok with the 1% pay rise.

I already feel well-paid for the job I do (that I love), it's a secure job that I'm not worried about losing, unlike many people in other sectors. I honestly feel quite privileged to do the job I do and I'm happy with the pay and conditions.

There are obviously others who feel differently, fair enough.

I've worked in the NHS for 40 years both as a nurse and allied professional, I have 8 years to go before retirement. My opinion won't be popular but where will the money come from? The NHS is huge, we've just had a national pandemic where money has flowed forth like water.
A recession is coming.
if the NHS costs too much money right now and in the next few years it will be sold off.

This is the start of realising just how utterly screwed the nations finances are from previous overspending and now, this pandemic. We now have national debt higher than income and reflects that governments cannot keeping spending money in normal times that we don't have. Even through so called austerity we were still spending far more.

Whilst some people moan about austerity, the real issue is that as a country we don't generate enough income to have the standard of living that the electorate would like..so prospective governments just keep promising more to get elected. We now face the situation that for just a 1% rise in interest rates, it costs an additional £25 billion.

Like it or not, we have to start behaving like a responsible family would and live within the household budget as at some point it will crash and we will be no better than Greece was.

A recession is coming
If the NHS costs too much money right now and in the next few years it will be sold off

Then you should know the NHS is already being sold off.

As for the recession argument, how come the govt is spending an additional £24 billion over the next 4 years, the largest increase in 30 years.

Govt ministers etc will always go to the top of the list for their treatment within the NHS (look at what Johnson got) and for minor stuff, will have private cover, they don't give a fuck about anyone else.

Nevermind the unions strike action. Why the hell isn’t the whole country rioting? Those NHS working deserve better. The government needs to be accountable for all the money wasted in the past 12 months

I can see why it is perceived that way. But the fact is there is no money! And so many people have lost their jobs or are having no pay rise. In the private sector I have not had a payrise in about 5 years. So tough to swallow but understandable in my view.

I can see why it is perceived that way. But the fact is there is no money!

Do you not read what is posted, the news or any govt spending plans?

just spout the govt line with zero thought?

£24 billion on defence over the next 4 years.... £110 billion on HS2 ?

but only 1/2 billion for a 1% pay rise.

@jasjas1973
"just spout the govt line with zero thought?"

And how much is the budget deficit..ie the difference between what I could,e there is and what is spent...even without Covid it is huge

It isn't great, but as there are many applicants for courses in nursing, I think they'll get away with it. A strike wouldn't go down well, I think there are too many other people who have lost jobs and pay. As others have said it's 1% more than many professions who have been working throughout at similar risk.

This is really hard. There is no doubt they deserve more money. But from what I understand the money is being used to save jobs for the rest of the workforce. Furlough scheme etc ...
on paper, isn’t it right that money should be spent on saving jobs than giving more money to those in a safe job? (And therefore others lose their jobs, which overall means less tax being paid. And therefore less money for the nhs in the future?)
Ideally the government needs money for both - furlough and nhs pay. But that would mean more tax rises. Which if they did, there would be a thread on here about awful the government is for rising taxes ...
I don’t know what the answer is.

Public perception doesn’t matter anymore, it clear that some were happy to flout the rules knowing there was a possibility they’d add pressure to nhs staff, some people who were furloughed also are also happy that staff working in itu shouldn’t get an increase.
Reading this thread it’s clear to see staff aren’t valued.
So the opinion of people who don’t care anyway is pretty meaningless. If they don’t care now after seeing scenes in itu for example, they will never feel people in the nhs deserve a fair wage.
Absolutely agree, staff should strike and I think they will.

I agree others worked throughout but nhs/carers were more at risk than most occupations. Also transport/ supermarket staff should be recognised. I think have already done supermarkets already have.

Do people actually think there is much to cut in the way of public services ? They've already been stripped to the bone. Our local council has a further £35 million to lose and that was before covid/brexit etc
@Sunflowergirl1 comparing the economy to a household budget is ludicrous And expecting a decent standard of living with fully functioning services, well funded schools, hospitals and social care, prisons that aren't victorian hovels, roads crumbling apart, surely that's not unreasonable in a still wealthy country ? Sadly it's a re run of 2010, no doubt there will be plenty of rubbing hands with glee at the potential for further dismantling of public institutions, much like 'austerity' was just a political stunt to create an even smaller state and totally discredited.

@Morgoth

The irony is that NHS staff wouldn’t even have to go on strike to show how underfunded and underpaid they are. They would just have to work their contractual hours and fulfil their contractual duties.

Absolutely this! Down tools and leave on time, decline any extra hours, any offers or bank shifts.

The NHS would collapse in a heap if that happened - and how could you argue that people should do extra time until somethings finished. The only thing is that you could end up leaving someone unsafe and then the threat of the NMC would be looming.

The government have been paying ppls wages and will continue until October. So the fact their getting any pay rise is lucky in my eyes. We have to recoup that money somehow.

Did anyone expect anything else? This was why I refused to clap, as my friends and family in the NGS kept reminding me, they want decent pay not applause.
And yes we have to be prepared to pay for it although I think we could do a lot more to tax ultra wealth- businesses and individuals, to be able to afford it.

@Cocopogo

Nevermind the unions strike action. Why the hell isn’t the whole country rioting? Those NHS working deserve better. The government needs to be accountable for all the money wasted in the past 12 months

The whole country isn’t rioting because lots of people feel that this is a good pay rise this year. Many people have lost jobs, had pay cuts, pension cuts, hours cuts and would love a 1% rise right now.

I wish people who keep mentioning job security in the public sector knew the reality. Chronic underfunding in social services, education, health care means no money for experienced staff. Therefore no job security, you can be pushed out very easily. A new entrant to your profession us cheaper and keener and less likely to complain against injustice. Massive general ageism and a culture of overpromoting apprentice style whizz kids who talk the talk but fail the walk.
Plus massive under the radar prejudice against those with kids, are carers, or develop a disability. This is because if you fall into one of those categories you are less able to do the unpaid hours needed to keep everything running. So you are stuck in low paid roles.
There have been massive job cuts in the public sector too, and redundancies over the last 5 plus years.
Im not saying that this all doesn't happen in the private sector, i know it does, but I think we need to fight against government indoctrination of decades that public sector is always somehow privileged.

@SwimmingInToys

I work for the NHS and I'm ok with the 1% pay rise.

I already feel well-paid for the job I do (that I love), it's a secure job that I'm not worried about losing, unlike many people in other sectors. I honestly feel quite privileged to do the job I do and I'm happy with the pay and conditions.

There are obviously others who feel differently, fair enough.

Tory HQ are up early today.

The whole country isn’t rioting because lots of people feel that this is a good pay rise this year. Many people have lost jobs, had pay cuts, pension cuts, hours cuts and would love a 1% rise right now.

I am off on band 5 and this works out about £3 per week rise for me.
We are very very short staffed where I work. I do upwards of an hour for free every single day (I work through my 30 mins unpaid mealbreak on a daily basis. I usually start at least 20 mins before my start time, and I leave anything between 30-60 mins after my finish time).
I am tired, so tired. I would like to be paid for the hours I do, but failing that a reasonable pay rise would be a goodwill gesture that shows I am appreciated. Instead, there is neither.

*bottom of band 5

I am a health care assistant in the NHS, paediatrics but also work in adults on the staff bank & for months was working 6/7 day weeks as the trust were literally begging us to take shifts. I don't think people realise how much the goodwill and teamwork of the NHS has helped during this time. Of course I was paid for those shifts, however bank work in NHS (even in your own ward) is counted as a 2nd job and therefore you pay 20% tax. So I have contributed more tax than ever and I have been picking up the slack for my colleagues who are still shielding. I have also been called into a meeting this week to tell me if I don't use the annual leave I have left this month I will lose it. Despite being told we couldn't take it in the summer. So whilst I am grateful for a pay rise I think it's naive to say ANYONE has been in the same position as NHS & care staff (including those working in close contact jobs I.e. additional needs teachers) Nobody has been more at risk and that is a fact. So for those saying "well I'm not getting a pay rise and I worked from home all year" honestly, have a bit of compassion for those who are mentally drained and at breaking point- it really isn't a race to the bottom. Also I have friends who are teachers, bar staff, hairdressers etc. and would love for all of us to be still standing at the end of this. Do I think those who have been furloughed for months have it easy? No. Do I think they've had it a lot easier than me. Definitely. I hope the country can recover and I hope they are ready to deal with all the mental and physical health problems left behind by this.

Do I think those who have been furloughed for months have it easy? No. Do I think they've had it a lot easier than me. Definitely.

And how will that change if they ultimately lose their jobs and can’t pay their mortgages? Which is a strong possibility for many of them.

Of course people who were furloughed has an easier time than people continuing to work. Not everyone who continues to work will keep their job either - there’s no fairness to this. But it’s ridiculous to think that people who had several months off had a worse time than people working in difficult conditions for ++ hours.

Morgoth
The irony is that NHS staff wouldn’t even have to go on strike to show how underfunded and underpaid they are. They would just have to work their contractual hours and fulfil their contractual duties

Absolutely agree. The extra work covid has created is having an extra job, the constant added risk assessments, changes in policies, having to manage staff to make sure they are following covid guidelines (and reporting them if not which I don’t want to do) , the covid assessment forms, attending covid meetings, making sure our patients are aware of changes, keeping on top of vaccinations who has who hasn’t and why for staff and our patient group, keeping on top and monitoring testing it’s endless and takes up often a third of my working day in a role that is already very busy. Other work gets pushed aside and we are really struggling in our team we are all absolutely worn out from this past year

I don't want anyone to lose their jobs and I am grateful for a pay rise- I was simply stating that I, and many other NHS workers have been paying more tax than ever and working more hours in awful conditions. It has not been quiet wards and tiktok dances for the majority of us and I am amazed that anyone would grudge us a 1% wage rise. But day to day - at this moment in time - those on furlough have had it easier. And many on furlough will have jobs to go back to. I can't help people will lose their jobs, but it's not been great for us either.