Posted 11 March 2025 - 11:00
Posted 11 March 2025 - 11:00
News
Hundreds of nurses threaten to quit bank shifts over pay cuts
Hundreds of nurses across four NHS trusts say they will stop working in-house bank shifts over plans to cut bank pay to entry-level rates. The Black Country Provider Collaborative – made up of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust – citing financial challenges, intends to standardise bank pay at the lowest pay point within each AfC band. The RCN opposes the move, saying that it undervalues experienced staff
Four NHS trusts say they will standardise bank pay at the lowest point in each AfC band, almost 1,000 nurses have threatened to stop working in-house bank shifts
Hundreds of nurses have threatened to stop working in-house bank shifts after four NHS trusts announced plans to reduce bank pay to entry level rates.
The Black Country Provider Collaborative, which is made up of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said it was planning to align pay rates for bank work due to ‘significant financial challenges’.
Under the plans, all staff undertaking bank shifts at the trusts, regardless of their regular Agenda for Change (AfC) pay band and base rate, will be paid at lowest point of their AfC banding. This means staff on a higher pay point within their AfC band would take a pay cut for bank shifts.
The RCN condemned the pay cuts and said they will leave a band 5 staff nurse on a higher pay point up to £41 worse off for working a 12.5 hour bank shift compared with a regular shift.
Knowledge, skills and experience should be recognised in bank shift pay, says RCN
The RCN table below shows AfC gross pay point rates for the 2024-25 financial year and associated overtime rates for full-time staff. The second column (entry point per hour) shows the reduced rates for bank pay due to be imposed by the four Black Country NHS provider trusts.
| Agenda for Change pay band | Entry point per hour | Top point per hour | Overtime rates per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 3 – HCA/HCSW | £12.31 | £13.13 | £18.46 (entry), £19.69 (top) |
| Band 4 – Nursing associate | £13.57 | £14.89 | £20.35 (entry), £22.33 (top) |
| Band 5 – Registered nurse | £15.33 | £18.66 | £22.99 (entry), £24.79 (mid), £27.99 (top) |
The changes are expected to come in place in April at all the trusts except Sandwell and West Birmingham, which has postponed them until September.
RCN West Midlands regional director Lindsay Meeks said: ‘If a nurse is paid at the upper point of their pay band on a regular shift, it’s because this is no less than they deserve. Their knowledge, skills and experience should be recognised in their pay for a bank shift too.
‘It’s glaringly unfair that a nurse who does an extra shift… will now be paid less than their basic hourly rate for that shift. In no other line of work would this be normal or acceptable.’
Ms Meeks has written to the Black Country Provider Collaborative urging it to abandon the cuts.
In an RCN survey of members working at the four trusts that received 1,300 written responses, almost 1,000 said they would stop working in-house bank shifts if the plans were enforced. Some 650 nurses said they would seek temporary work outside of nursing instead.
The four trusts say the move seeks to maintain financial sustainability
One nurse said in their response: ‘It is dismissive and disrespectful to people who have worked hard to gain a wealth of knowledge and experience over the years.
‘If we do a bank at the lower rate we will still be expected to use this experience. As a result, these bank shifts will be filled by very junior staff who still require a lot of support, which we will still be expected to provide.’
Ms Meeks also warned that agency spend would increase if nurses stopped doing thousands of hours of bank shifts to ensure safe staffing levels, as agency workers would be used to plug the staffing gaps. She called it a false economy.
A joint statement from the four trusts said: ‘Recognising the invaluable contribution of our workforce, we are committed to ensuring consistency in pay. Collaboratively, we have reached an agreement to align bank rates across the Black Country Provider Collaborative, reinforcing our dedication to supporting our staff while maintaining financial sustainability.’
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