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!

That’s very true @jasjas1973

The reality right here

There isn't a magic money tree to pay for anything more though.

Perhaps we start to charge people for GP visits and A&E. Just £10 for GP. It's a nominal amount but A) generates a small amount of money back and B) makes people think twice before they present at A&E with a sore throats.

YANBU. I don't buy that 'there's no money' when there was £22bn for a track & trace system that doesn't work and hundreds of millions more wasted on non-functional PPE contracts for ministers' mates. There is money, but not for the likes of you and me, just to give the super-wealthy tax breaks and crony contracts.

I’d be all for another system. More like Aus with nominal charge for those who can.

Lockdowns gave decimated tax receipts plus grants and furlough have added great burden.

Where's the £350 million you promised bozza??

You know what, I say fuck the hell off if you're saying NHS workers (any of 'em) should be grateful they have a job.

They have a job for a bloody reason. We need them. They are already chronically understaffed and underfunded. We need to appreciate them in the way it matters. Pay and conditions.

@jasjas1973 IT professionals who work in the public sector by and large receive far less pay than those in the private sector. The private sector can set wages and pay what they can to attract the people they need as they are money making enterprises. What someone gets paid isn't an indication of worth, it never has been- wrongly but actually pay will always be worse when the majority are employed by the public sector with only a small private sector.

Well yeah but people still vote tory ....

Not every NHS worker was front line during covid though were they? Many were sat at home or in empty wards? There should be a one off bonus/payment to frontline staff who were treating covid patients only.

@Onandoff now would have been a great time if it hadn't been for the pandemic. Unfortunately the pandemic has happened, and now we have no money. It will have to be once we have come out the other side of this.

I'm studying for an Allied health profession and the course is very tough...love it but the knowledge is formidable ..in depth anatomy, physics, patient care, artificial intelligence, placement etc. I dont deserve to be paid as much as a consultant obviously but a bit of financial acknowledgement would be great. I study round the clock....i have to to pass( i love it so don't mind).
My friend said today that NHS staff are conditioned not to expect much in terms of pay...and she's right.

Funny how the Tories can always afford what they want, though...

I think its cautious. I dont think many people will be getting payrises in April.

Not to say it is not shit but I remember the last economic crash.

• Won't work, who is going to stop treating a patient at 17:00 ?

No, they need to strike.*

That’s the thing, they need to stop treating. The government relies on nurses and doctors being caring and empathetic so know they will work unpaid to help someone. They are taking advantage of their goodwill. If they can get away with not paying someone and the job will be done anyway, they will. The public sector are allowing this. The workers have to be ruthlessly resilient. If it means patients remain untreated or kids don’t get work marked, so be it. That’s not their problem. They are 100% delivering for the hours they are paid for, no more.

Taking one or two days off for a strike won’t solve any issues in the long run. Firstly the government is unlikely to give in, they will be vilified by the public and it won’t change a thing. Strikes of a very long time probably will but not a day or two.

It’s a bit like when you work in an office for your boss and have a huge workload each day. The only way you can get through it is by working through your unpaid lunch break or on your unpaid commute. The boss sees the work getting done each day so thinks it’s manageable workload for your paid working hours. There’s no incentive for your boss to pay you more. If the worker stops, the boss recognises that the work cannot conceivably be completed each day thus either reduces the workload or offers you paid overtime to do it.

@adeleh

I’d happily pay more tax. I’d like there to be a wealth tax first though. And before anyone taxes ordinary people further I’d like to know where the £22 billion for Track and Track ended up. Or why the hell the taxpayer is footing a settlement occasioned by Priti Patel’s behaviour to the tune of £350000. Once they stop wasting money left, right and centre, yes I’ll pay more tax for the NHS (though do notice that the fabled £350 million a week does not seem to have gone their way).

Round of applause for that woman. This government can’t print money fast enough to give their mates and then insult NHS workers like this. I really hope we’re not going to let them get away with it.

@rwalker

How much do we think a full-time nurse a year should earn

The average salary is approximately 28k. So 30k once a nurse has around 8 years experience, 24k starting salary for a graduate nurse would be fair and in line with a lot of skilled jobs in the UK.

London weighting on top for London and surrounding areas.

How does that compare to their actual pay?

@ivfbeenbusy

Not every NHS worker was front line during covid though were they? Many were sat at home or in empty wards? There should be a one off bonus/payment to frontline staff who were treating covid patients only.

Anybody with this view has very little knowledge of how the NHS works. Especially in a major incident such as a pandemic.

@Racoonworld actual pay is better than that. I actually don't think we are badly paid, I think we work in bad conditions if that makes sense. Plus I secured a job well before graduating and have since had my pick of where I want to work, to an extent but less so what hours/shifts I want to work amongst other things. A few people I knew at uni had high paying careers, but most earn less than me now.

1% is better than most people are going to get - most people aren't getting a pay rise at all.

Look at the amount of people who lost their jobs completely, had their hours reduced, were forced to take pay cuts just to stay employed...... and NHS staff are complaining about getting a pay rise?

The fact that the union is demanding 12.5% pay rise is absurd - where do they think this money is coming from exactly?!

Frontline NHS - knackered and need a holiday but now being hounded not to take leave so we can treat the back log, expected to work Saturdays and Sundays on top of those I already do. Paid not bad for what I do - would love more. Got paid for my overtime.

EXH on 50% paycut, hanging onto his job somehow, Sister on 40% paycut, niece can not get a job - just out of uni, 2 friends lost their jobs.

Did not expect a payrise and actually slightly embarrassed to have got one, considering the current economic situation.

I think we have to be realistic as to where the world currently is economically.

@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!

NHS staff have worked extremely hard Where do you suggest the money comes from. Who do you think should loose money so they can have a pay increase.

This Government has and is still supporting a large portion of the population. Other frontline workers such as Police,andTeachers have put themselves on the frontline and have worked hard in challenging situations and most of them are having to wait for their vacation as well

The fact that the union is demanding 12.5% pay rise is absurd - where do they think this money is coming from exactly?!

Holy fuck really?

That’s ... ambitious

I work in the private sector, in an industry which has been decimated by the pandemic. I have been furloughed three times, for a total of five months, on 80% of my salary. My employer has paused pension contributions to save money. I am currently working part time, which we were all forced to accept in order to minimise redundancies. Many of my colleagues, and thousands of others in our industry have not been so fortunate, and are now unemployed.

Forgive me if I have zero sympathy for public sector workers who have secure jobs & pensions bleating about ‘only’ getting a 1% pay rise this year. Poor lambs.