NHS bank pay and jobs freezes: how are spending squeezes affecting your work?
Recruitment freezes in the NHS, and plans by some employers to suppress NHS bank nurse spending are having an impact on nurses, whether experienced or newly qualified. Many newly qualified nurses are struggling to secure their first nurse roles, despite a need to get patient waiting times down, and staff retention issues. Article author and Nursing Standard editor calls for urgent action on these issues and invites nurses to get in touch to share their experiences.
NHS recruitment freezes, and plans to suppress NHS bank nurse spending are affecting experienced or newly qualified nurses – what is the impact on you?
Almost 7.5 million people are waiting for NHS treatment in England, where the service has just shy of 27,500 nursing vacancies.
There are thousands of vacancies in the other UK nations too; in Northern Ireland, vacancies for nursing posts are the highest of all staff groups. At 1,185, they represent 21% of total vacancies.
And so it is bitterly ironic that there are recruitment freezes, with newly registered nurses struggling to secure their first jobs in the profession.
Newly registered nurses’ knowledge and bank nurses’ experience being squandered
Nursing students go to university thinking they will be guaranteed a job on graduation, which seems reasonable given patient demand and the profession’s recruitment and retention issues.
Yet final-year students and newly registered nurses are spending more than half a year looking for nursing roles, many while taking stop-gap work in supermarkets and bars. What a waste of knowledge and training for patients.
Similarly, cuts to bank pay are affecting registered nurses with some NHS trusts from April bringing rates to entry level pay, forcing experienced nurses to withdraw from this work. What a waste of expertise for patients.
Unsurprisingly, 1,000 RCN members working at four Midlands hospital and community trusts in a partnership known as the Black Country Provider Collaborative said they will refuse to work bank shifts if the plans go ahead.
How are you and your nursing colleagues affected by NHS spending squeeze?
Nursing staff and students attending the college’s congress in Liverpool this month are due to debate bank pay and terms and conditions, against a backdrop of another delay in the announcement of a pay award for those on Agenda for Change contracts.
We want to hear if and how you or your colleagues are affected by NHS recruitment freezes and cuts to bank shifts and pay. Email us at news@rcni.com or me via flavia.munn@rcni.com.
These issues need wide attention and urgent action.
