Pay for over 1.1 million NHS staff is to rise between 6.5 per cent and 29 per cent under a new Government proposal. This includes for the nurses and midwives who work so hard to take care of us when we’re ill.
Shared parental leave rights will also be extended and the NHS will commit to reducing sickness absence by improving the health and wellbeing of hospital staff, as well as ensuring workers receive better skills and development training.
Reforms to NHS pay bands will noticeably increase pay by 15 per cent over the next three years for NHS porters, cleaners and caterers. Midwives and newly-qualified nurses will see starting pay increase by 18.1 per cent and 12.6 per cent respectively in 2020-21.
Last year the Department of Health & Social Care confirmed an extra £1,687,000 of funding to meet local hospital winter pressures for Crawley area residents.
In comparison to 2010, there are now 14,900 more doctors nationally and close to 14,200 more nurses present on hospital wards, and an additional £8 billion of spending on the NHS over the next five years.
The introduction of new roles, such as nursing associates, will provide a further, work-based method of entry to the nursing practice for new and existing staff, and in 2018 this work-based route into the profession will train 5,000 nursing associates, with an additional 7,500 in 2019.
This week I chaired the latest meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Blood Cancer, where we heard from patients about the important support shown to patients by nursing staff.
It is right that we see investment in our health service to ensure public sector workers are fairly remunerated for their vital work, and to deliver world-class public services for all.
Henry Smith MP
Crawley Constituency