Nurses’ pay compared with other jobs

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Would anyone be prepared to share what they pay tradespeople in their homes, eg cleaners, gardeners, plumbers, electricians etc, per hour please?
I am a staff nurse, 32 years qualified, with post graduate qualifications, and earn £16.84 per hour.

The unions need to look at NHS roles individually and look at what responsibility each role holds.

For example, a paramedic is a band 6 as standard after the initial 2 years because they are generally away from a team of people and making decisions on their own. Most ambulance trusts now have ambulance technicians at a band 5 because the responsibility they hold is very similar to a paramedic making decisions without a team behind them often working with another technician or as the senior clinician on scene.

I think we should stop looking at "I studied for x years and hold x qualification" and look at the responsibility the role holds to determine the pay band. In a lot of cases nurses hold a lot of responsibility which doesn't correlate to a band 5. A nurse is such a varied role with lots and lots of different areas (ward, intensive care, A&E, district, primary health). So saying a nurse as standard should receive X band won't work.

HCA and carers are always well and truest shafted, they do all the traditional nursing duties (personal care, observations, assisting with living and mobility etc.) are band 2 (21,000 a year). These are the guys we should be fighting for higher and fair pay.

@PomRuns That's a bit of an assumption.

I work alongside nurses. I know what's going on. The same thing happens in a lot of industries. It's not just nurses.

I never went into nursing as it was common knowledge that it was low paid despite having far better benefits and security than the vast majority of jobs. People never went into it to earn mega bucks. Life has moved on though and the role is more respected than it's ever been.

What could you compare it to in terms of salary expectations though? There are lots of jobs that require technical expertise and experience that tail off after the £35k/£40k mark, teaching included. Most people wanting to get beyond those salary thresholds need to look at other options.

This is exactly what job banding under Agenda for Change looks at. :-s

This is exactly what job banding under Agenda for Change looks at. :-s

But it hasn't worked has it? Because all nurses are lumped together in a band 5. There are so many different areas, maybe it's time to change the name of nurse to the specific role they have and re-grade them. You can have an ITU nurse dealing with complex needs and drug therapy Vs a primary health nurse working 9-5 in a small village. I'm not saying one role is more important than the other, but they are different roles which require different responsibilities.

Not all nurses are Band 5.

Not all nurses are Band 5.

But most are, and do you believe all band 5 nurses are paid fairly and been assessed on their individual roles?

@Schnauzersaremyheros @LucyBMummy @HellsAngel81 and anyone else who may be in the veterinary profession - whilst we don't have a long tradition of unionisation we do now have the British Veterinary Union in Unite. It's relatively early days but with growing corporatisation it may be that union recognition may become more of a feature in the future in addition to the other benefits which come from being in a union. As with any union it will become as strong as it's membership allows.

Unison are fighting for band 2/3s currently. The NHS has been forced to look at each area and what a band 2 is allowed to do. It's about time because if you want a HCA to admitt a nurses patient in a hospital bed they should be paid accordingly.

No need to assess those with the same job descriptions. But if something changed, eg management responsibility or specialism, then yes.

@Schnauzersaremyheros @LucyBMummy @HellsAngel81 Sorry - don't think my post re union for vets/RVNs above tagged you all properly. Sorry for repeat posting if it did!

I'm a domcillary carer and get £10.80 an hour. I'm responsible for adminstering medication, safely moving service users. Some of these are half hour calls so £5.40. I wish we could strike.

@OverTheHillAndDownTotherSide but that's the point isn't it. Not all band 5 nurses have the same job description. An icu nurse will have a different job description to a general ward nurse. And A&E nurse will have a different job description to a primary health nurse. A theatre nurse will have a different job description to a school nurse. They are different roles with different responsibility levels but they are all band 5 and as you say banded together.

We need nurses who have been years in these roles and know it inside out to keep experience and continuity. It's not all about moving up to management.

Personally I do feel a lot of these roles should be on a band 6. Management should be on band 7 and above. And the wider NHS roles (HCA, physiotherapists, junior doctors, radiology and many more) need to be paid in accordance with their responsibilities. Management and unions need to support and be brutally honest with the responsibility their staff members hold.

Agreed re. the daily rates which sting a bit but you're not comparing like with like. If it's going through the books 20% of that is vat and a nurse who is full time gets 28 days paid holiday plus sick pay etc and quite decent pension contributions all of which have to be factored in for self employed.

Im a dog groomer and work for myself and I make roughly £20 p/h

Sick pay, maternity pay, holiday pay, job security. Apples and pears tbh.

When I was a TA , I earned around £9000 pa.