16.06.14
Pay gap between nurses and senior managers ‘widening’
Nurses say they are angry that NHS executive director pay has increased by an average of 6.1% over the last two years, compared to a 1.6% rise in earnings for nurses, midwives and health visitors.
The findings of the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) report – ‘All in it together? The Executive pay bill in England’s NHS’ – highlighted that 50% of trusts have awarded salary increases of at least £5,000 to one or more executive directors and a quarter have awarded increases in benefit in kind payments to at least one or more executive directors.
The government allows NHS trusts the freedom to set senior management remuneration and has said that it “believes that NHS employers should exercise these freedoms with responsibility and sensitivity to the position of staff who are subject to national contracts and restraint over their pay”.
However, the Department of Health questioned the RCN figures on top pay with a spokesman adding they should be “treated with caution” because other data showed there was no such increase, and said ‘exit packages’ were included in the director calculations but not frontline workers’.
But, either way, this research comes at an untimely time for the government after its decision not to implement a pay review body (PRB) recommended 1% pay rise for all NHS staff working in England, with ministers saying the 1% would only be given to employees not entitled to an incremental pay increase.
Chief executive and general secretary of the RCN Dr Peter Carter said: “The findings in this report are yet another kick in the teeth for hardworking and loyal nursing staff.
“It’s extremely worrying that the government believes that trusts are acting responsibly when it’s clear many are failing to show the leadership they should on senior management remuneration. There are some trusts and managers who have led by example and acted sensitively and they are to be commended.
“But failing to pay nursing staff a decent wage will continue to affect nurses’ living standards and morale and cause many more to consider leaving the NHS which is bad for nurses, bad for the NHS and bad for the country.”
Recently, it was also found that 96% of nursing staff who responded to an RCN survey said they feel “undervalued” and “underappreciated”. More than 80% said that the government’s decision on pay was causing anxiety about family finances and household bills. And a further 66% said that the government’s decisions about pay have made them think seriously about leaving the NHS.
However, a Department of Health spokesman said: “We have an available budget of nearly £1bn for pay increases. We have offered to look at any proposal the unions make on how to use this money.
“However they have not put forward any proposals to help the lowest paid. Our door remains open if they wish to reconsider their position.
“The RCN's figures should be used with caution – they have included exit packages for executive directors but not nurses. In fact, the latest independent evidence shows that for the third year running, there was no increase in median executive board pay.”
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