22.09.17
NHS staff paid £3,800 less per year compared to 2010
Years of real-terms pay cuts have seen NHS workers earn on average £3,800 less than they would have if salary rises had kept up with inflation since 2010.
Analysis by the GMB found that ambulance staff have been hit the worst by the continuation of the pay cap, with employees losing out on £7,500 a year.
Nurses, who have threatened to strike if the pay cap is not lifted, were also found to have seen their real-terms wage cut by £4,500 since the Conservatives came into government.
The GMB also found that even though basic pay increased by 1.2% between 2016 and 2017, non-basic pay like overtime payments and shift allowances have reduced, meaning that on average salaries have risen just 0.9% over this period.
NHS earnings have been put up by 8% since 2010, but this is still some way below inflation rates of 15% (CPI) and 21.3% (RPI) over the same period.
“These appalling figures leave no doubt that there is a pay crisis in the NHS,” said Kevin Brandstatter, GMB national officer. “Trusts are cutting back on overtime payments but demand continues to rise at record rates. GMB’s members are plugging the gap with unpaid overtime but the goodwill won’t last forever.
“The public will be appalled to find out that the take-home pay of many NHS nurses and paramedics is lower now than it was seven years ago, even before inflation is taken into account.”
Brandstatter argued that his organisation is campaigning for real pay rises for all its members in the NHS, and emphasised that any new awards musts be properly funded – since, according to the GMB, the public won’t accept increases above 1% that are paid for by cutting jobs and services.
“When Philip Hammond announces his decision in the Budget, he must offer all public sector workers a real above-inflation pay rise. Nothing less will be acceptable,” he concluded.
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