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No sick pay, no pay rise, no incentive: independent sector falls behind NHS

Calls for pay parity after RCN congress hears about pitiful private contracts which saw one practice nurse forced to remortgage her home after cancer diagnosis
GP nurse Sarah Hall told RCN congress how she was forced to remotgage her house when she got diagnosed with cancer

Calls for pay parity after RCN congress hears about pitiful private contracts which saw one practice nurse forced to remortgage her home after cancer diagnosis

GP nurse Sarah Hall told RCN congress how she was forced to remotgage her house when she got diagnosed with cancer
Sarah Hall at RCN congress 2023 Picture: John Houlihan

A nurse who had worked in general practice for 12 years was forced to remortgage her home when she got diagnosed with cancer because her work contract offered no sick pay provision.

Congress hears of pitiful terms and conditions in independent sector

The shocking revelation was shared in an RCN congress debate on pay parity between the NHS and the independent sector, where practice nurses, prison, hospice and care home nurses told how they often have pitiful terms and conditions in comparison with colleagues on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts.

GP nurse Sarah Hall said: ‘Please imagine that you’ve just accepted your dream job. You read your contract and you are shocked to read; no sick pay, no maternity pay, no pay progression.

‘You’re advised that you’re much better off because you will have the opportunity to negotiate your pay annually but will have to accept the conditions if you want the job. That was me.’

She went on to explain a desperate situation a colleague found herself in: ‘I am aware of a nurse who had experience of working in general practice for 12 years when she was diagnosed with cancer. She required treatment and surgery. She would only be receiving statutory sick pay and she had to remortgage her home to pay for her time off.’

She also told how colleagues discovered that the advanced nurse practitioners in their team were being paid sick pay but the GP nurses were not.

Calls from nurses in independent sector for Agenda for Change equivalent

Another speaker Kevin Crimmons shared how his wife – a GP nurse and diabetes specialist – had been given a £250 payment in lieu of a pay rise.

Prison nurse Emma Firth added: ‘There is a huge disparity among staff in the private sector. We are begging for something similar to AfC.

‘Not only is it unfair, but it suppresses the workforce. People are reluctant to move up the ladder as they lose their terms and conditions.’

Katherine Gerrans presents the pay parity motion for debate at RCN congress in 2023
Katherine Gerrans presents the pay parity motion for debate Picture: John Houlihan

Charities struggle to offer pay rises during cost of living crisis

Elsewhere, charities employing nurses also struggle with a lack of pay parity. Hospice nurse and manager Julie Reece told members how charities were ‘teetering on the brink’ financially due to the cost of living crisis and could not afford to give staff a pay rise.

‘It’s worth bearing in mind, alongside all the worthwhile AfC work, that not all companies are in a position to offer nurses a 10% pay rise. I work in an affluent area, I’m very lucky, but I do know there are hospices that are teetering on the brink and cannot afford to continue,’ she said.

A motion, brought by Katharine Gerrans, called on the RCN to work to secure equal terms and conditions for nurses not on AfC contracts, funded in full or in part by the public purse. The motion was passed by a landslide vote.


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