Health worker unions call on Government to reconsider pay rise cap

Health workers’ leaders are urging the Government to reconsider the controversial 1% cap on pay rises, warning that wages have dropped “dramatically” in recent years.

A letter by 15 unions representing NHS staff calls on the Chancellor to stop putting pressure on the sector’s Pay Review Body to keep rises pegged at 1%.

Jon Skewes, policy director at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: “Over half a decade of pay restraint has seen the value of the pay of hardworking midwives drop dramatically.

“This – coupled with changes to NHS terms and conditions, pensions and increases to national insurance – means they are struggling to make ends meet.

“The Government takes the hard work and dedication of NHS staff for granted. It is these same staff whose commitment to the people they care for is stopping the NHS from imploding.

“If a midwife’s salary had increased by the Retail Price Index inflation since 2010 their salary would be over £6,000 higher than it is now.

“If the projected pay restraint continues to 2020, as the Government intends, the difference will rise to over £9,000. This is a shameful way to treat the staff who keep the NHS afloat.

“The RCM is calling for the Pay Review Body to scrap the public sector pay cap and recommend an inflation-proofed pay award for midwives and other NHS staff.”

Unison’s head of health Christina McAnea said: “NHS staff haven’t had a proper pay rise in years. Successive governments have either frozen or capped health employees’ pay, causing real financial hardship.

“The longer ministers stick with such harsh pay policies, the harder it is for hospital trusts to hold on to experienced staff.

“It is only the hard work and dedication of health employees that is stopping the NHS from going under. It’s time the government recognised this and gave them a decent pay rise.”

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