Refusing to negotiate NHS pay is a false economy

This might be the most challenging period the NHS has ever faced. Bed occupancy rates and emergency department attendance are both higher than they were during that last two winters, which coincided with covid-19 peaks.1 Emergency departments have had their busiest October on record and the elective care waiting list has now reached 7.2 million people.23 We are seeing the biggest workforce gaps in the service’s history, with almost one in 10 posts vacant,4 and the most recent NHS staff survey found that 46.8% of respondents felt unwell due to work related stress in the preceding 12 months.5It is perhaps unsurprising then that NHS staff working under these pressures—and feeling the bite of the highest inflation rates for 40 years6—have reached the point of taking strike action. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that between August and October this year, average basic pay growth in the private…
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