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Soaring inflation means nurses face ‘miserly’ pay offer – TUC

Union warns that nurses’ real pay down £5,200 compared with 2010, as stagnant wages play considerable role in ‘crippling staff shortages’ in the NHS

Union warns that nurses’ real pay down £5,200 compared with 2010, as stagnant wages play considerable role in ‘crippling staff shortages’ in the NHS

Soaring inflation means nurses face ‘miserly’ pay offer the TUC warns
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Analysis by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) revealed that nurses’ pay will be fiercely hit by a ‘miserly’ pay offer, as inflation soars and household bills rocket.

The TUC said its study showed that nurses’ real pay was down £5,200 compared with 2010, warning that stagnant wages have played a major role in the ‘crippling staff shortages’ in the NHS.

TUC cite successive governments’ ‘brutal decade of wage cuts and freezes’

General secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘Our brilliant key workers in the NHS helped get Britain through the pandemic, but many are now at breaking point, struggling to afford the basics and put food on the table.

‘After a brutal decade of wage cuts and freezes overseen by successive Tory governments, NHS staff have been pushed to the brink by skyrocketing bills.

‘Miserly pay offers will only be swallowed up by runaway prices.’

Ms O’Grady added low pay and crippling staff shortages were delivering a ‘hammer-blow to morale’, as the latest figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council showed a huge surge in nurses leaving the profession.

NHS workers received a 3% pay rise last year and a similar award is expected this year, despite Retail Price Index inflation reaching double figures.

The TUC say they believe the NHS Pay Review Body has already made its recommendation to the Government for this year’s pay rise – due from April – with ministers yet to make an announcement.

‘Real-term pay cuts has left nursing profession in a dreadful position’ – RCN

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: ‘If the pandemic was not enough to make ministers appreciate nursing’s value, then the escalating cost-of-living crisis and the nursing exodus must make them wake up.

‘This research backs up our own which found that more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts has left the nursing profession in a dreadful position.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘NHS staff received a 3% pay rise last year, increasing nurses’ pay by £1,000 on average despite a public sector pay freeze, and we are giving NHS workers another pay rise this year.

‘No decisions have been made.’


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