Fury from nurses as NHS bosses get pay hikes

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said pay for NHS executive directors has increased by an average of 6.1 per cent over the last two years while nurses, midwives and health visitors have only seen a 1.6 per cent rise in earnings.

Half of NHS trusts have awarded a salary increase of at least £5,000 to one or more executive directors, according to information from 126 NHS trusts in England.

And numerous executives are being paid substantial bonuses on top of their salaries, with two chief executives receiving bonuses of at least £40,000, it claimed. At the same time, nurses have struggled to keep pace with the rising cost of living, the college says as it prepares for its annual congress in Liverpool.

The RCN said most nurses will not get a cost of living increase this year, and those who are getting something will be receiving less than £5 extra a week. The college has criticised the Government’s decision not to implement a one per cent pay rise for all NHS staff working in England.

The pay review body (PRB) recommended a one per cent increase for all health staff, but ministers rejected the decision, saying the one per cent will only be given to employees not entitled to an incremental pay increase. Unions have estimated this will leave 70 per cent of nurses facing a wage freeze this year.

A poll of 17,000 nurses across the country found that almost all feel “undervalued and under-appreciated”. Some 83 per cent said the Government’s decision was causing anxiety about family finances and household bills. And two thirds said the ruling over pay has made them think seriously about leaving the NHS.

The chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, Peter Carter, said: “The findings in this report are yet another kick in the teeth for hard-working and loyal nursing staff.

“The Government has maintained an iron grip on the pay and benefits of frontline staff whilst the senior managers pay bill has seemingly gone unchecked. This is the worst kind of double standard and makes a mockery of their insistence that fairness has been at the heart of their decision-making on public sector pay.

“The Government must also address the crisis in nursing morale.

“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. The Government should do the decent and honourable thing and give nurses a decent wage.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “We have an available budget of nearly £1 billion 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.

“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.”