Chancellor puts 1 per cent limit on nurse pay rises

He said the decision was one of a series of “difficult choices”, that “are essential if we are to stick to our plan to halve the deficit and protect the front line”. He added that restricting pay rises would save the government £3.4bn.

But UNISON has condemned Mr Darling’s limit on pay rises as a betrayal of public sector workers.

Responding to the chancellor’s announcement today, general secretary Dave Prentis said: “I am not going to sign up to this. I know how our members feel - they feel angry and betrayed.

Readers' comments (27)

• Jennifer Losing | 9-Dec-2009 7:11 pm

  It makes me angry how the government bail out the banks, we suffer, our patients' suffer, and yet the bankers and management still get massive bonuses. I am a newly qualified nurse and already I am learning that I will never be appriated for my work by the public.

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• Anonymous | 9-Dec-2009 8:07 pm

  I am due to retire in December 2011, I will have worked in the NHS for 30 years and was looking to a decent pension in my retirement, dont look like that will happen now.

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• Neil O'Shea | 9-Dec-2009 8:42 pm

  At what point will we take decisive action to ensure our livelihood as well as protect the patient in already underfunded conditions.

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• Anonymous | 9-Dec-2009 8:52 pm

  Jennifer, I'm still at university and I learnt that a long time ago. Quite a few of my uni friends agree we'd get a better deal working in a damned shop.

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• Anonymous | 9-Dec-2009 10:28 pm

  I doubt Mr Darling will cap his payrise to just 1%, "i'm alright jack" is any governments mantra. Hit us where you can why don't you pay packet and pension.........

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• Sarah Williams | 9-Dec-2009 11:26 pm

  How are my husband and I supposed to support our growing family as a teacher and nurse with this absolutely rediculous decision being made by a people who's pay is in an ever increasing trend (at treble and more what we earn!) with housing allowances and rebates for everything from morgage payments to chocolate lunchtime snacks!?
  
  The government wonders why skilled workers in the public sector are leaving the country in droves and I can tell you this, it isn't for just the sunnier weather!
  
  The British Government are so caught up in protecting bankers bonus' and their own earnings (I don't see any MP's giving up their bonus or pay rises to give the government funds a few extra billion!) they are loosing sight of the real people who keep this country going.
  
  When they need our services and the people caring for them are no longer there (because we've all left for sunnier climates!), when nurses are caring for whole wards alone and patients are dying in their hundreds and thousands maybe they'll see the light - but by then it will be too late!
  
  How are we going to recruit and retain staff to care for my children when bigwigs are forcing them to change careers and countries to make a living?
  
  The decisions to announce this I'm sure was "difficult" but obviously easier than capping his own pay rise - that is if he make re-election!
  
  If there was ever a time public sector workers needed to stand together and be counted, now is that time - before our livelyhoods are gone. I've never been one for walking out and striking but if my union asked me to today, I'd have no problem!

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• ian tindall | 10-Dec-2009 0:52 am

  Although it seems very unfair, the bankers are paid such high rates because they are considered to be the best at their game. It is not dissimilar to the way our consultants and GP's are paid. Although I believe the wages are inflated for the benefits we get from them, we are forced to accept this for if we penalise the bankers and other high pay workers we could end up being the poorest country in europe.

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• noble julie | 10-Dec-2009 8:27 am

  I am just doing my degree in district nursing and i am getting dis heartened we try our hardest and we are well educated and don't get any reward. thank goodness our patients don't see us that way or i would be walking out the door. stick in there everyone and remember why we do it that card and that look in your patients eye when they say thankyou and you know you have made a difference thats what i keep in my mind xx

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• Anonymous | 10-Dec-2009 9:29 am

  I think things will get a lot harder before we get out of this recession. They are acting a lot harder in Ireland, their PM has taken a 20% pay cut & all other public sector workers have pay cuts too.
  As UK nurses we should perhaps point out where cuts CAN happen rather than just say "not us".
  Recovery CAN happen if we all pull together!

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• Anonymous | 10-Dec-2009 9:29 am

  The way things are going just HAVING a job will be a big thing.

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• tim hartley | 10-Dec-2009 9:36 am

  As professional people we are very tame and seem prepared to accept whatever little is given in the way of scraps- in this case no more than 1%. What other profession would roll over and have it's belly on show in the way that we do?
  The government set an appalling example by rightly having had their personal greed/ gluttony on show i/c expenses etc.
  What we need is a party that leads the way with honesty and integrity that rewards its 'carring professionals' in a fair and just manner- and to other areas such as our boys and girls in the forces.
  We are a country that is poisoned with greed- from politicians right down to all those false claimants of benefits that as tax payers we all foot the bill for!
  
  Tim Hartley

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  Martin Gray | 10-Dec-2009 10:08 am

  Two comments caught my attention - both share a view that is WE that need to make a stand against what this government has done, and is doing to this country. I have said on other threads that everyone, especially senior management and above whether in Government, DoH, NHS and (dare I say) the NMC, rely on healthcare staffs' good will and sence of duty. Julie Noble makes this clear in her post above;we do love the self reward we get from a job well done and appreciated, that's why we do it. But is that a valid reason not to expect a decent living wage?
  
  However, lets also consider a few other points: pay rises have been at less than inflation so real salaries have been reducing (unless you count the overtime people have to put in to make up a decent take home pay - which is NOT a rise but was recently reported as such in the media); milage allowances for those workers unbale to get a car on the government schemes because their annual milage is insufficient but HAVE to have a car to do their jobs (health visitors for example) at less than half the cost of a litre of petrol, so they are, in fact, FUNDING their jobs and the NHS!; students have to survive on bursaries rather than a decent wage for what they are training to become, no wonder the government has hoodwinked us in to the view a degree should be the minimum entry level - it saves them money!; dangerous staff/patient ratios that DO put patients at severe risk and staffing levels that prevent care being given to patients to the level that is needed. Need I go on??
  
  For all this we are STILL the target of paycuts, the scapegoats when anything goes wrong, and the target of aggression from angry friends and relatives as we are in the front line and the only physical point of contact available to them.
  
  Now we are also saying nurses have to have a degree as entry level; I ask you, would you join a profession with such an outlook? Anonymous 9:52 has made it evident that students DO feel undervalued; no wonder, then, why we are having difficulty with recruitment and retention - many are better off on benefits than working! Unfortunately nurses from poorer countries are attracted by the current salaries as they are far higher than in their own countries; so we may get a dedicated workforce, but then we have the problems of language and different standards of care , whether those nurses come from Eastern Europe, Africa, India, or Asia (colour, creed, religeon or race have nothing to do with my comments - before you accuse me of being racist).
  
  So Julie, I fully understand where you're coming from, and that is the spirit of caring. However I have to agree with Neil; unless we, as a profession and with the support of the health care unions and workers, make a stand that actually has an effect that will shake up the NHS and associated organisations involved in its' management NOTHING is going to change.
  
  In poor countries it is the family and friends that have to provide ALL the basic and essential care to patients; the nurses are there to perform medical treatments - nothing much more, and they bring that underlying attitude with them sometimes when they are employed here. Now, if that were to happen in this country, the general public may well realise and appreciate the jobs we do; with that understanding, and thus their support, the powers that be will soon see the errors of their ways.
  
  Yes it goes against what we are taught, but that's the only way we are ever going to make a difference - otherwise it is just the usual noise that the governement et al expect us to make before we just lie down again and do our job. The term 'tough love' was used recently in another thread and I think that's an appropriate turn of phrase for what is required.
  
  Whether the Conservatives would make any different choices if they were elected is going to be a gamble. The ever-increasing national borrowing has to be paid for by someone; it will be those of us of 'Middle Britain' that, as usual, will be targetted to pay for the benefits system whilst the rich and powerful laugh.

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• Anonymous | 10-Dec-2009 11:18 am

  Hmmm, the point above - a country "poisoned by greed" hit the nail on the head. People generally seem to want everything now (be it flat screen TVs, overseas holidays etc etc) and pay later. It seems we're (as a country) now being brought to book and having to pay now. Hard choices are going to have to be made; do we (like Ireland) start charging 40 euros to visit a GP, do we start saying we can no longer fund certain treatments. Wake up - the "good times" have gone!

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• Anonymous | 10-Dec-2009 11:25 am

  30 years ago I was working on a day ward for people with dementia. A little old lady took me aside and said I was a likeable young man but when was I going to get "a proper job". Perhaps I should have taken the hint and become a banker!

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• Anonymous | 10-Dec-2009 11:34 am

  it makes student nurses like my self wonder why we bother training. yes we do it because we care about our patients but we also have families and have to pay bills just like you high flying councellors ......
  Why cant you all take a 5% pay cut and donate that to getting out of the red!!! because you couldnt manage taking that pay cut or not recieveing a pay rise in this monotary climate!! so why should health care workers suffer this when those like you are not willing to sacrifice simular sacrifices??????????

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• Anonymous | 10-Dec-2009 1:27 pm

  Its no wonder so many skilled workers are leaving the UK. Why should we stay here and work in understaffed wards, with low pay, when we can go abroad for better pay, better lifestyle and hopefully better conditions. I know where il be headin in 2011!!

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• Anonymous | 10-Dec-2009 2:31 pm

  Just like to contribute a couple of points to the above discussion. Messrs Darling, Brown and the Bankers should remember who got us into this mess in the first place. In case they've forgotten, the taxpayer (that's you and me) bailed out the banks, I don't remember being asked about that. The bankers and their greed got us into this mess, yet the public sector is expected to pay for this folly (so we're effectively paying twice).
  
  In previous years, during the good years we were forced to accept below inflation pay rises because the country supposedly couldn't afford it. Let's face it if it wasn't the country's debt mountain there would be some other pathetic excuse for fobbing us off with another below inflation increase while, as a previous post mentioned, the bankers carry on paying bonuses (bonuses, mind you) that are more than I will earn as a nurse in ten years.
  
  If you're tempted to think that the 50% supertax on bonuses over £25000 will rein in this excess, forget it.
  
  I would agree with Sarah, above, we need to take decisive action and I too would be prepared to strike to get my message across.

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• monique blair | 10-Dec-2009 10:18 pm

  I will be looking to move to the private sector which is more attractive with better pay, conditions and care of patients.
  
  thanks NHS and Mr Darling

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• Anonymous | 11-Dec-2009 12:25 pm

  Same old story....., never any money to look after the staff who have to pay their own mortgages, utility bills and feed their family. We pay into the NHS monthly via our salary so in effect are being penalised twice. Standards of care are being compromised, patients are suffering as a result because we are so tired of having to prop up a system that doesn't value the workforce. A new government won't help either because a precedent has been set. I will leave nursing if this issue is not resolved in a satisfactory and fair way, and I think many others will too. Years of experience, skills and knowledge will be lost - what a waste

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• Doug Langdon | 12-Dec-2009 10:49 am

  Nurses and Unions need to be realistic, this country is on the verge of bankrupsy and pay freezes and cuts are going to be a thing of the future whether we like it or not.
  
  We can blame bankers for the crisis, but it is this government which has spent the billiions of pounds that we were not earning, and who put them in a position to do this, everyone who voted.
  
  Nurses, like others must do their bit to help the recovery process, not just by accepting some control over pay, but by highlighting areas in the NHS and other government agencies where money is being wasted, especially on quango's.
  
  I would urge all nurses to check out the taxpayers alliance website and join for free, to receive the detailed information you need to see about government waste and then use it in your arguments with the government paymasters.

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