The government has submitted evidence to the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body supporting its decision to freeze the pay of NHS staff for two years.
The pay freeze was announced in 2010 to support the government’s QIPP targets of saving £20 billion by 2014-15 in order to be able to meet rising demand.
In its evidence the government says: “Delivering these savings will be extremely challenging and any unnecessary increase in pay would make this more difficult, could undermine this ambition and may put at risk our ability to meet growing public expectations.”
NHS staff pay will be frozen in 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. Consultants were already experiencing a pay freeze in 2010/2011, so their pay will not rise over a three-year period.
Pensions are also under review and consultants are likely to have to work longer and make higher contributions for weaker benefits. A day of action by NHS staff is planned for 30 November. And there’s still no indication whether this year’s Clinical Excellence Awards programme will be run, as the profession awaits the government’s response to the pay body’s review.
In its submission on the pay freeze, the government suggests that staff satisfaction and recruitment and retention “remain healthy” and the total reward package in the NHS is favourable.
On pensions, the government said: “The government has made it clear that future public sector pensions will remain among the best available…any changes in pensions, including the proposed increase in contributions from 2012/13, do not justify upward pressure on pay.”
It concludes: “NHS pay must also been seen within the wider context of the current economic situation and cannot be immune from the serious economic challenges we face.”
Public sector staff earning a full-time equivalent salary of £21,000 or less will receive a £250 per year or more increase in salary during this period.
Read the full evidence.
See doctors’ pay scales.
Tags: Pay
