NEWS
Chief executive pay hikes ‘a kick in the teeth for nurses’, says RCN By Kat Keogh Senior NHS managers are receiving pay rises and five-figure bonuses when most nurses in England have been refused a 1 per cent cost-of-living rise, research has revealed. Half of England’s NHS trusts have awarded pay rises of at least £5,000 to one or more executive directors in the past two years, the college discovered, Two chief executives have received bonuses worth up to £45,000 each. The poll of 126 trusts reveals that executive packages, which include pay, bonuses and other benefits such as leased cars, rose by an average 6.1 per cent between 2011/12 and 2013/14 (see box). The findings of the All in it Together? report follow health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s decision in March to reject a 1 per cent rise for all nurses. He insisted the rise was unaffordable and only staff at the top of their pay band would get the cost-of-living increase, which is worth less than £5 a week to most nurses. RCN general secretary Peter Carter said the findings represented ‘yet another kick in the teeth for hardworking and loyal nursing staff’.
Double standards
‘The government has maintained an iron grip on the pay and benefits of front line staff, while the senior managers pay bill has seemingly gone unchecked,’ Dr Carter added. ‘This is the worst kind of double standard.’ A Department of Health (DH) spokesperson said: ‘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 8 june 18 :: vol 28 no 42 :: 2014
All in it Together? Report findings £40,000-£45,000 bonuses have been awarded to the chief executives of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. 50 per cent of trusts surveyed awarded one or more executive director a pay rise of at least £5,000. 25 NHS trusts refused to reveal their accounts to the RCN. The average real-terms pay cut nurses have experienced since the coalition government came to power in 2010 is £2,600. The 1 per cent cost-of-livng increase is worth less than £5 a week to most nurses who have received it. shows that for the third year running, there was no increase in median executive board pay.’ RCN head of policy Howard Catton dismissed the DH response, saying that while redundancy packages were included, they made up a small part of the RCN figures. He said it was a fact that average executive pay has gone up by 6.1 per cent in two years.
The RCN report says there is an urgent need for greater fairness in pay between front line and senior staff, and renews its calls for a rethink on the refusal to give all nurses a pay rise this year. To read All in it Together, go to www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_ file/0008/580760/004674.pdf See careers page 64
Employers ‘raid’ poorer countries after five years of training cuts RCN general secretary Peter Carter has said the true impact of cuts to nurse training places over the past five years has yet to be felt, warning that staffing shortages will get worse in the next year or two. Dr Carter said reductions in the number of training places since the coalition government came to power in 2010 has led to employers ‘raiding’ the nursing workforces of poorer countries to make up the shortfall. Health Education England, the national organisation responsible for training healthcare workers, has boosted the number of nurse training places for 2014/15 by 1,407, compared with 2013/14. But there are still 2,560
fewer training places than there were in 2010/11. In Scotland, there are 392 fewer training places for 2014/15 than there were in 2010/11, while in Wales there has been a decrease of 97 and in Northern Ireland 64. Speaking to the press at the opening of RCN congress in Liverpool earlier this week, Dr Carter said cuts to training programmes will be felt most keenly later this year and next year. ‘There are 25,000 training places for nurses each year in the UK, and 200,000 people apply for them,’ Dr Carter said. He added that it is ‘illogical’ not to increase the homegrown nursing workforce when there was such demand for places on nursing degree courses.
NURSING STANDARD
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Chief executive pay hikes ‘a kick in the teeth for nurses’, says RCN By Kat Keogh Senior NHS managers are receiving pay rises and five-figure bonuses when most nurses in England have been refused a 1 per cent cost-of-living rise, research has revealed. Half of England’s NHS trusts have awarded pay rises of at least £5,000 to one or more executive directors in the past two years, the college discovered, Two chief executives have received bonuses worth up to £45,000 each. The poll of 126 trusts reveals that executive packages, which include pay, bonuses and other benefits such as leased cars, rose by an average 6.1 per cent between 2011/12 and 2013/14 (see box). The findings of the All in it Together? report follow health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s decision in March to reject a 1 per cent rise for all nurses. He insisted the rise was unaffordable and only staff at the top of their pay band would get the cost-of-living increase, which is worth less than £5 a week to most nurses. RCN general secretary Peter Carter said the findings represented ‘yet another kick in the teeth for hardworking and loyal nursing staff’.
Double standards
‘The government has maintained an iron grip on the pay and benefits of front line staff, while the senior managers pay bill has seemingly gone unchecked,’ Dr Carter added. ‘This is the worst kind of double standard.’ A Department of Health (DH) spokesperson said: ‘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 8 june 18 :: vol 28 no 42 :: 2014
All in it Together? Report findings £40,000-£45,000 bonuses have been awarded to the chief executives of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. 50 per cent of trusts surveyed awarded one or more executive director a pay rise of at least £5,000. 25 NHS trusts refused to reveal their accounts to the RCN. The average real-terms pay cut nurses have experienced since the coalition government came to power in 2010 is £2,600. The 1 per cent cost-of-livng increase is worth less than £5 a week to most nurses who have received it. shows that for the third year running, there was no increase in median executive board pay.’ RCN head of policy Howard Catton dismissed the DH response, saying that while redundancy packages were included, they made up a small part of the RCN figures. He said it was a fact that average executive pay has gone up by 6.1 per cent in two years.
The RCN report says there is an urgent need for greater fairness in pay between front line and senior staff, and renews its calls for a rethink on the refusal to give all nurses a pay rise this year. To read All in it Together, go to www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_ file/0008/580760/004674.pdf See careers page 64
Employers ‘raid’ poorer countries after five years of training cuts RCN general secretary Peter Carter has said the true impact of cuts to nurse training places over the past five years has yet to be felt, warning that staffing shortages will get worse in the next year or two. Dr Carter said reductions in the number of training places since the coalition government came to power in 2010 has led to employers ‘raiding’ the nursing workforces of poorer countries to make up the shortfall. Health Education England, the national organisation responsible for training healthcare workers, has boosted the number of nurse training places for 2014/15 by 1,407, compared with 2013/14. But there are still 2,560
fewer training places than there were in 2010/11. In Scotland, there are 392 fewer training places for 2014/15 than there were in 2010/11, while in Wales there has been a decrease of 97 and in Northern Ireland 64. Speaking to the press at the opening of RCN congress in Liverpool earlier this week, Dr Carter said cuts to training programmes will be felt most keenly later this year and next year. ‘There are 25,000 training places for nurses each year in the UK, and 200,000 people apply for them,’ Dr Carter said. He added that it is ‘illogical’ not to increase the homegrown nursing workforce when there was such demand for places on nursing degree courses.
NURSING STANDARD
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