08.05.17
Hopson: Uncompetitive pay taking its toll on patient safety
Politicians must act now to address rapidly growing concerns over the NHS workforce and prioritise the issue when drawing up their manifestos before the snap election, NHS Providers has today stated.
In a seven-point policy paper released today, the health organisation stated that despite the longest and deepest financial squeeze in NHS history, finding and retaining staff was becoming increasingly difficult and was emerging as one of the most serious problems facing the health service.
To tackle this, NHS Providers called on the new government to work with national health bodies and agree a long-term approach to workforce planning and consider how to end pay restraints and entice more people into working for the NHS.
The paper also calls for extra funding for NHS trusts as well as for adult social care – though it was added that extra cash needed to be backed by a long-term and sustainable solution to funding.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, stated that with staff shortages in paramedics, A&E consultants, community nurses and mental health nurses, the workforce was now the “number one priority” for the NHS.
“Growing problems of recruitment and retention are making it harder for trusts to ensure patient safety,” he explained. “Unsustainable staffing gaps are quickly opening up in hospitals, mental health and community trusts and ambulance services.
“Years of pay restraint and stressful working conditions are taking their toll. Pay is becoming uncompetitive.”
Hopson also stated that the problem was highlighted by the fact that many trusts were reporting staff leaving their posts to take up jobs stacking shelves rather than working for the NHS due to high demand making the job more and more stressful for staff.
The NHS Providers CEO also reiterated concerns voiced by health organisations about the effect that Brexit uncertainty was having on the morale of EU nationals who were unsure about their future work status in the UK.
“Yet all the evidence shows that staff who are happy and motivated provide better care,” he said. “NHS trusts want to see strategic solutions in place dealing with pay, the supply and demand of staff, retention and training. But they tell us they see no sustainable long-term plans in place.”
The call to invest in the workforce also comes a week after Labour pledged to axe the 1% pay cap for NHS staff in an effort to hold on to and recruit more staff into roles in the health service.
And the Liberal Democrats this weekend announced that if elected, they would implement a 1p per pound increase across all income tax bands to fund a £6bn cash injection for the NHS.
NHS Providers also stated that words promising parity for mental health investment also needed to be backed up with action – coinciding with mental health awareness week starting today.
The organisation also called on the government to recognise the economic value of the NHS as a key employer, as well as a body that funds and delivers important research on a number of important issues.
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