NHS refused paltry 1% pay rise as Tories line their own pockets with fat bonuses Mar 13, 2014 23:09 By Jason Beattie 2145 Shares Share Tweet +1 Email Millionaire Tory Jeremy Hunt has refused to give thousands of NHS staff a measly 1% pay rise despite being in line for an 11% rise himself. Labour say, “It’s caviar for Hunt and peanuts for nurses.” Rich and poor: Jeremy hunt and NHS workers Tory Jeremy Hunt was accused of treating nurses and midwives with “contempt” after 420,000 were denied a pay rise. The Health Secretary, worth an estimated £4.8million, ignored advice to give all NHS staff a much-needed salary hike and instead offered just 1% to fewer than half of them. Labour MP Grahame Morris fumed: “It is a bitter pill for nurses and NHS staff working under increasing pressure to have a Tory Health Secretary with a personal wealth of millions impose a real terms pay cut. It’s caviar for Hunt and peanuts for the nurses.” While MPs are in line for an 11% pay boost next parliament, Mr Hunt denied a cost of living rise to NHS staff eligible for annual “progression pay” increases. Unions, which threatened industrial action, said this meant more than 600,000 NHS workers – 60% in total – will not get a rise. Of those, 420,000 were nurses and midwives. The Government also announced the 1% rise – below the 1.9% rate of inflation – would apply to members of the Armed Forces, doctors, dentists, senior civil servants, prison officers and judges. A newly qualified nurse on £21,388 will get £213 extra. Before yesterday’s decision, the Royal College of Nursing told the independent NHS pay review body how wages in real terms has fallen up to £2,824 since 2009 due to below-inflation pay rises. At the same time, the cost of childcare has gone up 37%, energy bills 39%, rent 26%, food 24% and transport 30%. The nursing union also claimed 92% of staff regularly worked unpaid overtime and stress levels were at “breaking point”. Mr Hunt, who earns £134,565 a year and founded money-spinning education listings firm Hotcourses, said the review’s recommended 1% increase for all NHS staff was “unaffordable” and would have meant axing 6,000 nursing jobs. He also warned staff on incremental pay rises – often worth up to 4% according to the Coalition – were also unlikely to get anything next year. Mr Hunt added: “It’s our intention that in 2015-15 the same approach will apply.” But Rachel Maskell, of Unite union, said: “Hunt is deliberately muddying the waters by trying to imply that the annual increment that staff receive, as they gain more skills to benefit patients throughout their careers, is part of the annual pay increase – it is not. “It is despicable that Hunt has adopted such an underhand tactic.” Unison’s head of health, Christina McAnea, also accused the Government of being “deliberately provocative” and “taking a scalpel” to the pay review’s report. She said: “The Government has shown complete contempt for the NHS, contempt for staff and contempt for patients and will pay the price at the ballot box.” Jon Skewes, of the Royal College of Midwives, added: “This amounts to a pay cut, pure and simple, and it is not good enough. Midwives are angry.” The Armed Forces pay review body also warned cuts to the military and the continued pay restraint was hitting morale and could lead to “large numbers” leaving Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander insisted the pay decisions would save the NHS £200million in 2014-15 and more than £400million in 2015-16. David Cameron, on a visit to the Middle East, also defended the move. He said: “It is right to take those difficult decisions because it means we can keep more in work and make sure we spend money on vital treatments, on hospitals, on delivering services.” But Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham insisted the PM could have afforded the pay rise if his Coalition had not wasted £3billion on botched NHS reforms. He said: “It will be galling for nurses hearing this news today – they work flat out in difficult circumstances.” It also emerged the Treasury would claw back an extra £1billion from individual Government departments in public sector pension costs – paving the way for more cuts. The Department for Education will have to pay an extra £330million in 2015-16 and £560million in 2016-17, the Civil Service an extra £275million a year from 2015-16 and the NHS £125million a year from 2015-16. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, described yesterday as “national destroy public sector morale day”. mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-refused-paltry-1-pay-3239888#ixzz2w7IG5tQZ Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 09:33:13 +0000