NHS Pay award

[Thedogscollar]

So this is what they have come back with from the insulting 1% offer by increasing it to a paltry 3%.
Workers are leaving in their droves we have a massive deficit in nursing and midwifery which is worsening daily.

I work in the South East of England, we are hugely affected with shortages in staffing, virtually every 12.5 hrs shift I do we cannot have a break due to work acuity and lack of staff. We have junior staff in tears with the pressure put upon them.
We aren't paid for our break and we are hard pushed to get it back as time owing. We cover empty shifts on the bank over and above our contracted hours as we know how hard it is for our colleagues in there.
We are all reaching breaking point some are there now and gone off sick. It is exhausting physically but more so mentally as you know before you even get to work what it's going to be like.

I have payslips going back 10 plus years and in that time my salary has barely changed and I am at the top of my band.

Our management team held an urgent meeting the other day to discuss the crisis going on within our trust with staffing and work acuity. Nothing was really dealt with just more management speak.

This government has to look after the NHS staff that have given so much and still are. Staff retention is in crisis and by offering this paltry pay rise they are doing nothing to stop this disaster becoming a momentous catastrophe resulting in even worsening patient safety levels being eroded even more.

How on earth can this government justify 30 plus billions for track n trace and HSS yet not offer a decent pay rise to NHS workers and in that I include care workers too.

Boris and co should hang their heads in shame but as per they think they are doing so well in offering us anything.

I'm sure I will have people coming on now to say they have lost jobs and taken paycuts and for that I am truly sorry but this cannot be used as an arguement for a huge group of essential workers being financially and emotionally abused by their employer which is exactly what this government are doing.

Absolutely- the deification of NHS staff and the NHS as an institution is totally unhelpful. It prevents proper scrutiny of the NHS itself.

Of course there are lots of great NHS staff, but as with any organisation, there are allá bad ones.

It is also true that some parts of the NHS have been very quiet over the last 18 months. It feels like GP surgeries have been effectively closed!

See, this assumption that all NHS staff deserve “respect” boils my piss a bit. You’re employed to do a job for money, you’re not Jesus Christ or fucking Gandhi. Do it, or don’t.

Wow.

My default position in life is to have a basic level of respect for anyone and everyone until they demonstrate to me that they are undeserving of that for whatever reason. I thought most decent human beings operated by the same principle.

Nursing applications rose by over a third in Feb. Medicine degrees are massively oversubscribed this year.

There's never been a massive problem getting people to start a career in nursing. It is staff retention that is the problem.

@Stompythedinosaur

Nursing applications rose by over a third in Feb. Medicine degrees are massively oversubscribed this year.

There's never been a massive problem getting people to start a career in nursing. It is staff retention that is the problem.

Exactly this.

Exactly re retention. Someone I know said half her year group had left by the third year. On paper it's a great occupation but the reality is very different. Promotion also isn't necessarily that rapid depending on where you live.

@NotPersephone you are very vocal about this - what clinical experience do you have ?

See, this assumption that all NHS staff deserve “respect” boils my piss a bit. You’re employed to do a job for money, you’re not Jesus Christ or fucking Gandhi. Do it, or don’t. In my experience those who demand “respect” are generally the least deserving of it
You know the difference between a doctor, nurse, HCA who just get on with their job as in providing the minimum that is expected and those who go beyond their duties when you are a patient?

The difference between the nurse who comes quickly when you call and goes and get the consultant to check on you and make sure you get the pain relief you are desperate for vs the nurse who comes to see you when she's had her deserved break and tell you to grit your teeth until the consultant comes...whenever that is?

The HCA who takes the time to wash you and your hair with care and patience, talking to you so you that you regain a sense of pride and feeling like a human being, vs the HCA who comes and get on with it as quickly as possible, making no talk or eye contact, but doing her job?

Because you are as patient don't deserve any special respect and only owe you to do their job. I bet you're one of those people who would go and complain at the poor service because you deserve better than that.

And I’m a lawyer married to a NHS consultant so I have zero clinical experience. I posted to point out that (to paraphrase) anyone who thinks people earning as much as we do, with a pension as stonkingly generous as DH’s, need 3% extra at the expense of teachers, coppers etc must be on glue.

NHS consultants definitely don't need 3% extra as they earn generally speaking well in excess of 80k. Nurses, HCAs and those earning significantly less for what they do - they deserve it hugely, and more, in my opinion.

As I said previously I'm a band 8 which obviously isn't as well paid as a consultant but is high enough that I have no need for a 3% pay increase. But I would be so happy to see my colleagues on lower bandings receive this and I do believe that they are fully deserving of it.

My DH is public sector too (police officer). I don't even feel that he needs it as much as nurses and HCAs do.

And I’m a lawyer married to a NHS consultant so I have zero clinical experience. I posted to point out that (to paraphrase) anyone who thinks people earning as much as we do, with a pension as stonkingly generous as DH’s, need 3% extra at the expense of teachers, coppers etc must be on glue

It's almost as if the majority of NHS workers aren't in fact consultants, fancy that.

[quote Sanguinesuzy]@NotPersephone you are very vocal about this - what clinical experience do you have ?[/quote]
Her bloke’s NHS royalty. A consultant with a quarter of a million annual income whose 3% will be more than just about anyone else’s but is just pocket money to him.

You’re employed to do a job for money, you’re not Jesus Christ or fucking Gandhi. Do it, or don’t

Well exactly, lots of people are leaving as the conditions and pay are crap. I'm excited to hear what amazing policy you have to ensure that there are enough HCPs left to ensure even a minimal level of care as many are leaving.

but I’ve seen much more of the latter than the former in the NHS
Well I've only experience care beyond what was expected, so maybe attitude has a lot to do with it.

And I’m a lawyer married to a NHS consultant so I have zero clinical experience
Oh the irony! Did you OH turned down the Awards of Excellence that have been awarded in the last two years to consultants for their hard work during the covid time, awards that are much much more than the 3% awarded to the lesser staff? If these awards had instead be shared amongst all front line staff, it's more than a 12% increase they would be receiving.

Funny how quiet clinicians are being about these awards, that they got after their annual increase last October.

I hope your OH has a bit more respect for the staff he works with than you do.

Consultants are not Agenda for Change. They get their own increases and taking everything into account ,get a lot more than 3% a year. That's why is it especially sickening that someone who get the direct benefit of it could begrudge any other NHS staff getting a 3% increase.

I bet he didn't voice how he thought his increase wasn't deserved and campaigned for police officers, teachers and everyone else getting a pot of his increase.

How hypocritical!

@Noterook

And I’m a lawyer married to a NHS consultant so I have zero clinical experience. I posted to point out that (to paraphrase) anyone who thinks people earning as much as we do, with a pension as stonkingly generous as DH’s, need 3% extra at the expense of teachers, coppers etc must be on glue

It's almost as if the majority of NHS workers aren't in fact consultants, fancy that.

Exactly!! 🙄

I'd happily give up my 3% if I could and add it to nurses / HCAs / midwives etc.

Like I said a few pages back, happy for NHS workers to get a mega payrise and whatever else is necessary to sort out recruitment and retention issues - if we can have an end to the narrative that NHS workers had challenges that nobody who wasn’t NHS could understand. It’s that deification that grates - I would never say I had it worse than you, as I wasn’t in your shoes. Please don’t say you’ve had it worse than anybody else, because it’s absolutely impossible to know that.

I have huge respect for NHS workers and I agree that 3% is insulting - so I wish you luck in your campaign and you have my support.

@vivainsomnia

The thing is that consultants are highly, highly skilled and are in high demand in the private sector.

It is only right therefore that they receive higher pay increases- otherwise many would disappear off elsewhere.

@AudacityBaby

Like I said a few pages back, happy for NHS workers to get a mega payrise and whatever else is necessary to sort out recruitment and retention issues - if we can have an end to the narrative that NHS workers had challenges that nobody who wasn’t NHS could understand. It’s that deification that grates - I would never say I had it worse than you, as I wasn’t in your shoes. Please don’t say you’ve had it worse than anybody else, because it’s absolutely impossible to know that.

I have huge respect for NHS workers and I agree that 3% is insulting - so I wish you luck in your campaign and you have my support.

It usually starts though when someone comes onto a thread and starts the whataboutery, and people get defensive which is understandable.

Her bloke’s NHS royalty.

He might be as far as the Chief Exec and other consultants are concerned. But not necessarily to other clinicians. Based on my 12 years of NHS experience as senior mental health worker, I'd much, much rather work with staff at the lower bandings such as HCAs and nurses than consultants. They tend to listen, they are empathic, they are generally not narcissists who love the sound of their own voices, and they are always hands on working their arses off for their patients.

Disclaimer - Clearly not all consultants are the same; but generally speaking from my experience!!

[quote GreenLakes]@vivainsomnia

The thing is that consultants are highly, highly skilled and are in high demand in the private sector.

It is only right therefore that they receive higher pay increases- otherwise many would disappear off elsewhere.[/quote]
Where are they going to go? There’s a limited amount of private work available or they wouldn’t bother working in the NHS at all. Junior doctors work a damn sight harder and frequently have more responsibility - anyone remember that poor female doctor who lost her job and was struck off for a bit when she was literally the only doctor in the hospital one night?

It is only right therefore that they receive higher pay increases- otherwise many would disappear off elsewhere
Ah, but it isn't right to increase pay for nurses, midwives, health visitors, and auxiliary staff who are also disappearing elsewhere, an increase that is nothing like what consultants get.

The NHS is much more than just consultants and consultants wouldn't be able to do their job without all the staff they rely on.

NHS consultants definitely don't need 3% extra as they earn generally speaking well in excess of 80k
Consultants are not affected by this. Their pay grade are separate to everyone else. Most have got much more than a 3% increase in the last two years. Much more.