Will The Growing Disparity In Pay Between Public And Private Healthcare Mean Nurses Stay In The NHS?

“There is a huge disparity among staff in the private sector. We are begging for something similar to AfC” Prison Nurse Emma Firth

A speaker at the recent RCN Congress recounted the tale of a nurse with 12 years’ experience working in general practice who, when diagnosed with cancer, was forced to re-mortgage her home because her contract of employment contained no provisions beyond statutory sick pay.

This shocking revelation was shared during a debate on pay parity between the NHS and private sector. Nurses from GP practices, care homes, prisons and hospices discussed how their employment terms and conditions can lag woefully behind their counterparts employed on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts.

Do you think private sector employers should be required to maintain equivalence with the terms and conditions of AfC contracts? And if so, how could that be enforced without essentially co-opting private healthcare under NHS auspices?

The Hidden Cost Of Negotiating Pay

GP Nurse Sarah Hall recalled: “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 also divulged how her colleagues discovered that sick pay was being paid to the Advanced Nurse Practitioners in their team, but not to the GP Nurses.

Even if it is legal to differentiate terms and conditions between staff members employed by the same employer, is it ethical? And should the law be amended to ensure such differentiation in terms and conditions is not permissible in the future?

Could Pay Motions Gain Support Outside Of RCN Congress?

A motion requiring the RCN to ensure commensurate terms and conditions for nurses not employed on AfC contracts was passed with an overwhelming majority.

With the motion requiring the difference between AfC contracts and private employment to be met out of the public purse, is such a measure likely to gain any real traction outside of the RCN Congress?

“There is a huge disparity among staff in the private sector. We are begging for something similar to AfC” Prison Nurse Emma Firth.

NHS Nurses Already Struggling With Pay Cuts

Nurses employed in the NHS had already been struggling with real terms pay cuts for several years.

Analysis from London Economics, a global consulting firm, revealed that in the decade from 2011 to 2021, overall median weekly pay for nurses fell by 6% in real terms. This was noticeably larger than the real terms decrease across all employees in the UK over the same period, which was 4.6%.

What About Private Sector Nursing?

However, holiday entitlement, sick pay, bereavement, and special leave, as well as employer pension contributions are more generous for NHS employees than what is statutory or commonly found in the private sector.

Is the disparity in terms and conditions between the NHS and private employers simply a function of the market, with potential employees able to choose between various pros and cons when considering employers? And if so, is this something that the government should be permitted to interfere with?

Please let us know what you think in the comments, and like the article if you found it interesting.

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