Posted 28 June 2019 - 10:15
Posted 28 June 2019 - 10:15
News
Nurses face pay cut as trust brings bank shift rates down to Agenda for Change levels
Basildon and Thurrock trust move could force nurses to seek better-paid work in London – RCN
Basildon and Thurrock trust move could force nurses to seek better-paid work in London – RCN
Cuts to bank shift pay rates mean some nurses at a hospital in Essex are facing a pay cut of up to 20% from next week.
The RCN said the changes could push staff at Basildon Hospital to look for work elsewhere and would harm patient care.
Trust merger
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is bringing its bank rates down to Agenda for Change (AfC) levels because it is merging with two trusts that already only pay AfC rates for bank shifts.
This means:
- Day shift hourly rates will fall from £17.50 to £14.08.
- The nights and Saturdays rates will go from £22.29 to £18.10.
- Sundays and bank holidays will fall from £26.14 to £22.13.
Bank shifts essential for nurses and patients
RCN senior officer for Essex Brigid-Ann Lord said patients as well as nurses would suffer.
‘Many of our members take on extra bank shifts to help make ends meet but also to ensure patient care needs are met,’ she said.
‘With hospitals such as Basildon close to London, there is the concern staff will decide to seek the higher pay rates in the capital’
Brigid-Ann Lord, RCN senior officer for Essex
‘These shifts are essential to help them with rising living costs.
‘As well as the cost to individual staff members, there is a risk that services will be affected if nurses decide they will no longer cover these shifts.’
Ms Lord said staff could look for work elsewhere.
‘Another concern with hospitals such as Basildon, which are close to London, is that staff will decide to seek the higher pay rates in the capital and with other care providers,’ she said.
Pay parity across the new organisation
A Basildon and Thurrock trust spokesperson: ‘As we work towards becoming a single NHS organisation, we are reviewing our nursing staff bank rates across our hospital group.’
‘Changes to general nursing bank rates are intended to ensure our staff are paid the same rates for bank shifts no matter which of our three hospital sites they work on.’
The trust is merging with Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust.
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