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.

But not all staff work on Covid wards or with Covid patients. 🤔You’re trying to make it sound as if every NHS worker was working on Covid wards with hideous working conditions far worse than anybody else in any other sector and you’re all dramatically underpaid more deserving than anybody else, that you haven’t been offered anything.

Oooo do tell us re the hoards of jobs for education staff?

I’d hope anyone teaching my child would know the difference between hoards and hordes. If that’s the level teaching staff are at I don’t think there’s much of an argument for giving them more money.

There are plenty of jobs in the NHS, if it’s such an attractive employment prospect, why is that?

Ah the old teacher bashing deflection.

Come on you must be aware diff sectors have diff qualifications and skills.

Right back at you. If it’s so great and easy to switch careers elsewhere jump ship. There must be plenty of great opportunities for you with equal salaries, pension and discounts.🤔

@Tw1rlz

But not all staff work on Covid wards or with Covid patients. 🤔You’re trying to make it sound as if every NHS worker was working on Covid wards with hideous working conditions far worse than anybody else in any other sector and you’re all dramatically underpaid more deserving than anybody else, that you haven’t been offered anything.

I can only speak for what my own staff team was working with. And it's exactly as I've described. Mental health patients confined to their bedrooms on secure units because they are Covid positive - imagine what that does to their mental health. Huge increases in challenging behaviour as a result - staff being assaulted far more regularly. Still having to go into bedrooms to administer medication. In some cases involved in hands on restraints in very small rooms and being spat at / bitten. I'm not making this up. This is the reality of what our staff team in inpatient mental health were dealing with at the height of the pandemic. Your comment about "close quarters" grated on me a little after seeing my teams go through that.

The majority of staff involved in these situations weren't band 5 or 6 nurses, either. They were band 3 support workers, paid on a starting salary of £19,737.

@Tw1rlz

But not all staff work on Covid wards or with Covid patients. 🤔You’re trying to make it sound as if every NHS worker was working on Covid wards with hideous working conditions far worse than anybody else in any other sector and you’re all dramatically underpaid more deserving than anybody else, that you haven’t been offered anything.

No, I'm really not, hence my earlier comment about not all NHS staff have faced that - but in the same vein not all teachers have faced what you described either. My daughter's school closed in March and there were only limited staff available for key workers children.

And when you're saying "You all" I assume you mean NHS. I'm not NHS, I work in a private care home, I've got it far worse working conditions wise than you even being in education, and I faced some of those things that I described a significant amount of NHS staff facing - I'm getting nothing either, because social care is mainly private for profit companies and they don't have to so won't in all likelihood.
My stance though is that the NHS staff who faced this head on dealt with it more than I did, so I feel they deserve some recognition for that and don't think them getting it takes anything away from me or belittles what I did, and as 3% won't even bring them in line with inflation over the time it will be implemented, I don't think it's enough.

You see horrible traumatic things and then go home and have to act normal like you've had a standard day in the office. It's madness when you think about it.

This. 100%.

@Tw1rlz

Ah the old teacher bashing deflection.

Come on you must be aware diff sectors have diff qualifications and skills.

Right back at you. If it’s so great and easy to switch careers elsewhere jump ship. There must be plenty of great opportunities for you with equal salaries, pension and discounts.🤔

I don’t work for the NHS any more, I’m now living on that fat pension 20 odd years service provided. Of course I’m knee deep in diamonds and all my furniture is gold plated. And, because I was non clinical I could easily have doubled my salary by working in the private sector but I liked contributing and making a difference. Not that it’s any of your business anyway.

Since you have such a poor opinion of NHS staff, next time you’re sick, put your money where your mouth is and get your care elsewhere. You won’t though, will you?

I can only speak for what my own staff team was working with. And it's exactly as I've described. Mental health patients confined to their bedrooms on secure units because they are Covid positive - imagine what that does to their mental health. Huge increases in challenging behaviour as a result - staff being assaulted far more regularly. Still having to go into bedrooms to administer medication. In some cases involved in hands on restraints in very small rooms and being spat at / bitten. I'm not making this up. This is the reality of what our staff team in inpatient mental health were dealing with at the height of the pandemic. Your comment about "close quarters" grated on me a little after seeing my teams go through that.

I can sympathise, I work with dementia patients, they don't take kindly to not being able to walk around as they usually do and don't have the capacity to understand why, and get scared, aggressive and exhibit challenging behaviour when we had to try, having your mask ripped off your face, and being assaulted while trying to physically stand in someone's way because they want to go into another residents room.

But we've no idea what close quarters is like......

I agree op. There is no way in hell they would get me back on to nhs ward. I actually think it’s time we nurses and midwives take action. We should refuse to work any overtime at all, make sure we take our breaks and leave on time. Refuse any extra shifts at all. This in itself will put immense strain on services and they have relied on our goodwill for too long now.
If you feel you want to help still then join an agency then at least you will get half decent pay for your work.
My bosses have instructed the person who does the rota to avoid using bank to fill the rota and to ask everyone to do extra shifts instead. It’s ridiculous I’m now a bank nurse and I only went bank because they refused my flexible work hours request due to childcare. And my bank rates are actually less than what I was paid before I left my permanent position.

@Iquitit

I can only speak for what my own staff team was working with. And it's exactly as I've described. Mental health patients confined to their bedrooms on secure units because they are Covid positive - imagine what that does to their mental health. Huge increases in challenging behaviour as a result - staff being assaulted far more regularly. Still having to go into bedrooms to administer medication. In some cases involved in hands on restraints in very small rooms and being spat at / bitten. I'm not making this up. This is the reality of what our staff team in inpatient mental health were dealing with at the height of the pandemic. Your comment about "close quarters" grated on me a little after seeing my teams go through that.

I can sympathise, I work with dementia patients, they don't take kindly to not being able to walk around as they usually do and don't have the capacity to understand why, and get scared, aggressive and exhibit challenging behaviour when we had to try, having your mask ripped off your face, and being assaulted while trying to physically stand in someone's way because they want to go into another residents room.

But we've no idea what close quarters is like......

Yes we had many patients object to the masks too, but due to being actively psychotic and very unwell some of them didn't have capacity to understand why we couldn't take them off. Hence staff were on the receiving end of more aggression and challenging behaviour. It's been absolutely horrific for the staff really - sickness at an all time high and many staff now leaving. I'm not surprised.

@feelingmehtoday

The majority of staff involved in these situations weren't band 5 or 6 nurses, either. They were band 3 support workers, paid on a starting salary of £19,737.

HCSW are actually band 2 in this area

@80sPadme

That's even worse.

[quote feelingmehtoday]@80sPadme

That's even worse. [/quote]
What's band 2 equivalent to? I'm in nmw (as are most social care staff) honestly though, with family in the NHS and seeing what some went through and the effects it's still having now on them, and knowing the effects it's had on me, at a lesser level, I think the efforts need to be acknowledged in some way, and more than have been offered.
💐 To you all, the NHS is far from perfect, but that's not the fault of the staff out there nursing and treating/caring for people every day.

@Iquitit

Band 2 is around £18k a year full time - equivalent of about £9.50 an hour I think.

So not far off NMW.

[quote feelingmehtoday]@Iquitit

Band 2 is around £18k a year full time - equivalent of about £9.50 an hour I think. [/quote]
And some people begrudge them a 3% payrise when in all likelihood, they're on more money than that to start with, but they're not getting one.
Don't think it's NHS staff being greedy and entitled......

I work in education and some of the comments towards those who work in the NHS are ridiculous. I've worked with children who spit at and attack staff. I would rather face that before going through the stress that many NHS staff have faced this year. Not to mention the nightmare they will have trying to catch up on all the postponed appointments and operations.
You have my support, 3% isn't enough. It's not a race to the bottom!

You can compare as much teachers to direct contact staff, and who had it worse. The statistics don't lie. Healthcare workers suffered with their lives and the consequences of covid at a much higher ratio than teachers.

Schools were closed at a time when it all started and we didn't know how best to protect ourselves from it. And as someone has mentioned, no teachers was forced to have physical contact with a pupil confirmed to have covid.

Is it really that hard to picture that healthcare providers were much more exposed to the risk than any other professions?

I agree, loads of health/care workers have been horribly exposed and treated appallingly. They should definitely get a decent pay rise.

I have to say there are a minority of NHS workers (a number of them in my DH’s family, so I hear from them a lot) who have gone on about how dreadful covid has been for them at work and how grateful they are for the claps and the discounts, yet they have (3 of them, who are particularly vocal) WFH for a year, yet still seem to have been prioritised for vaccines way back at the start of the year.

Many front line NHS staff have put their necks on the line with very little protection. Those who instantly switched to WFH and have stayed there ever since, less so.

Non directly facing nhs employees or not working in clinical premises should have got 1% at most, others should have got 5 or 6%.

I'm sure most would have agreed, it unfortunately was probably not a legal option, nor possible to identify with certainly those falling into one or the other group.

For the first 5 years of my band 5 nursing career I was in receipt of tax credits. I have only just been lifted up out of that bracket. Even the government didn't think I was paid enough! And during this time I have spent my days and nights caring for very sick babies on ventilators. And the lawyers etc come on here and tell me that I earn plenty 😁

I hope the spiteful midwife who made me weep in hospital when at my most vulnerable after giving birth didn’t get a pay rise. Or my incompetent GP who misdiagnosed my DC because they refused to see her face to face.

Yes, some people who work for the NHS are truly wonderful but there are also many uncaring, cold people who are NOT heroes by any stretch of the imagination.

@Angelcupcake

For the first 5 years of my band 5 nursing career I was in receipt of tax credits. I have only just been lifted up out of that bracket. Even the government didn't think I was paid enough! And during this time I have spent my days and nights caring for very sick babies on ventilators. And the lawyers etc come on here and tell me that I earn plenty 😁

I was also in receipt of tax credits when I started my career in the NHS as a single parent on a band 5. Interesting when you put it that way, isn't it!

@vivainsomnia

Non directly facing nhs employees or not working in clinical premises should have got 1% at most, others should have got 5 or 6%.

I'm sure most would have agreed, it unfortunately was probably not a legal option, nor possible to identify with certainly those falling into one or the other group.

Direct public facing nhs staff NEED those in the background to be able to do their jobs.

I can't process bloods in a lab, I can't fix my computer, I can't answer every phone call coming in, I can't fix a broken toilet or a leaking roof, I can't send out hundred of appointment letters, I can't manage room bookings....

Without the people doing those behind the scenes jobs, I can't do my job with patients.

Personally I value all my colleagues, not just those ones that patients meet!