Thank you for contacting me about the tremendous commitment shown by healthcare workers both during the present crisis and at all other times.
All of us are forever grateful to all those who have worked so hard to tackle this pandemic and its consequences.
It is magnificent beyond words how hard millions of workers in all parts of the economy, private sector and public, in the health and care services and business owners and others have worked to get the country through the crisis, often carrying on despite the danger of exposure to the virus.
As we begin to emerge from the crisis, further difficult and complex issues confronting the nation are coming into focus, among them the urgent need to tackle the threat of possible increases in unemployment and to bear down on the enormous cost of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown which estimates from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility put at £298 billion just for this financial year. We will need to work together as a country to ensure that the national recovery is as swift as possible.
On pay, I know the Government is committed to supporting all nurses now and in the future. Its support for frontline staff predates this unprecedented challenge. In addition to a 6.5 per cent pay rise over three years, the starting salary for newly qualified nurses has increased by more than 12 per cent. The Government has introduced a nurses’ bursary which provides up to £5,000 of additional support to nursing students.
The 6.5% pay rise will benefit not just nurses, but all staff on the Agenda for Change pay scale - over a million workers. Ministers set aside £800 million to support the deal for 2018/19, and the Government’s long term funding settlement for the NHS, which will provide increased funding of £33.9 billion per year in real terms by 2023/24, will fund the pay rise over the remaining two years.
Those on the lowest salaries in the NHS will see some of the largest proportionate pay rises: the lowest NHS starting salary will increase year on year from £15,404 to £18,005 in 2020/2021. Many nurses and healthcare assistants will enjoy pay increases of at least 25 per cent.
For doctors, I understand that the increases for 2019 to 2020, backdated to April 2019, were set out as between:
- £1,940 and £2,630 for consultants
- £970 and £1,820 for specialty doctors
- £1,360 and £2,250 for associate specialists
The 2.5% pay rise for all consultants and dentists is part of the ambition to make the NHS the best employer to work for, as set out in the NHS Interim People Plan.
All pay awards are considered in the light of wider pressures on public spending, ensuring that pay is fair for employees and taxpayers, while maintaining services that are affordable for the future.
Concerning pay awards in recent years, the NHS is one of few public sector workforces that receive annual incremental pay progression. Around half of staff on Agenda for Change contracts receive incremental pay of around 3 per cent on average. For example, a typical qualified nurse can expect seven years of pay progression averaging around 3.8 per cent a year, in addition to annual pay awards.
Of course, the question of pay is under constant review and the Government talks regularly with the relevant professional associations and trade unions as well as the pay review bodies.
The fight against coronavirus is a national effort, and my colleagues and I are committed to giving nurses, doctors and all healthworkers all necessary additional support throughout it.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Craig Whittaker MP
June 2020