13.11.12
MP says South West Pay Consortium could be ‘illegal’
An MP in the south west of England is trying to get the so-called regional pay ‘cartel’ in the region referred to the the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
Stephen Gilbert, the Lib Dem MP for St Austell and Newquay, says the South West Pay Consortium (SWC) may be illegal.
The 20 NHS trusts who make up the consortium say that working locally to set staff pay, terms and conditions is the only way to safeguard patient care and resources, and avoid widespread job cuts.
Dr Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, calls the plans “a draconian cost-cutting exercise” and a “fool’s economy”, and tens of thousands of NHS staff have signed a petition against it.
Gilbert has written o the OFT asking it to investigate, though it told the Western Morning News that it could not confirm receipt of his complaint. It said it would consider any submission made.
The MP told the newspaper: “These NHS trusts do not have public, patient or political support for the efforts they are making to bully staff into accepting reduced terms and conditions. They need to end this cartel arrangement, drop their plans to impose regional pay and get back around the national negotiating table.”
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