NHS pay review process ‘in dire need of reform’
Posted 08 March 2024 - 14:48
Nuffield Trust also highlights a nurse-doctor pay gap that is one of the largest in economically comparable countries, and ‘unacceptably high’ nursing student drop-out rates
The NHS pay review body process is too slow and ‘in dire need of reform’ to help tackle workforce shortages, according to a leading health think tank.
In a briefing on health service staff shortages published by the Nuffield Trust, researchers call on the next government to address the ‘unacceptably high’ drop-out rates among nursing students (13%) and newly qualified nurses.
Nurses ‘deserve a pay review process that is fit for purpose’
The think tank also found that England has one of the largest pay gaps between specialist doctors and nurses within 26 economically comparable countries – second only to South Korea.
The Nuffield Trust suggested that ministers should consider gradually writing off the student debt of healthcare workers in return for their service, which could reduce high drop-out rates in clinical training and early NHS careers.
It added that affordability of pay settlements should be considered in the context of the public purse, not just department budgets.
‘Pay recommendations are often late, published several months into the financial year when they are supposed to take effect,’ the briefing states. ‘While pay is backdated in these cases, such delays can cause real cost-of-living challenges for some staff – particularly against the backdrop of high inflation – and adds considerable financial uncertainty for employers.
‘All staff and employers at least deserve a pay review process that is fit for purpose.’
The document also says the government must tackle the ‘postcode lottery in NHS staffing’ and commit to precise national and local goals to reduce staffing inequalities.
Focus on staff retention urgently needed
In this week’s budget speech, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the NHS has ‘42,000 more doctors and 71,000 more nurses than it did under Labour – that is 250 more doctors and 400 more nurses every single month that we’ve been in office’.
But Nuffield Trust senior fellow Billy Palmer explained that the 50,000 boost in nursing numbers promised by the government is ‘not being felt equally’ across the sector, with big declines in the number of health visitors and learning disability nurses.
‘Growing the NHS workforce is popular, and an ambitious workforce plan already exists, but to succeed it needs to be accompanied by robust policies or we risk wasting money, time and talented people too early in their NHS careers,’ he added.
‘This oversight will do nothing to reduce our reliance on overseas recruitment, nor will it stem severe shortages in some clinical professions and in regions of the country. The status quo of hoping some of these issues around retention and work experience will sort themselves out isn’t good enough.’
NHS workforce ‘remains deeply unhappy about pay’
Responding to the briefing, RCN director for England Patricia Marquis said: ‘The latest NHS staff survey revealed a workforce that remains deeply unhappy about pay. Year-on-year real-terms pay cuts are pushing nursing staff into debt and other careers.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will’ ‘almost double the number of adult nurse training places and increase the number of GP training places by 50% by 2031’.
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