I honestly don't think there should be automatic pay increases for time served/gaining experience. I am not against performance related pay, I believe that fairly reflects the work individuals put in to their job whatever industry you work in. It annoys me that not only with these automatic increments NHS want the extra 1% which put would a pay increase at twice the rate of inflation. Frankly to even find that public sector pay is still increasing in the current climate I think is astounding. I think the 1% is appropriate, however when the average nursing wage is £30k a year after time served etc, hos is that justified when my partner who works as a police officer receives 6k less than that and hasn't had an increase in 4 years. Complete pay freeze in all that time, whilst also policing budgets have been absolutely decimated by the current government.
What annoys me is once part of the public sector wants to be and seems to be largely immune from pay freezes yet other staff in the public sector who are in eminently more danger have to suffer budget cuts and complete wage freezes. I am in no way saying there should be a race to the bottom but it bothers me how we seem to hold those that work for the NHS with a holier than thou attitude compared to those who put their lives on the line working for the police, army, or security services. All of the roles are highly skilled but why really why should the NHS be largely exempt from pay freezes?
There are no longer automatic incremental rises through the pay bands because, now, nurses need to show they have achieved set objectives before they proceed through what is called a 'gateway'. Therefore, pay is now performance related. In addition, those nurses who have been at the top of their pay band for years (like me) don't get an incremental rise anymore. There are usually between 5-7 points within a band and each band overlaps with the band above it and below it.
The average wage is £30000 because it takes into account the top nurses' pay in any trust such as the nursing directors and matrons. Obviously, the vast majority of nurses in the country are at basic staff nurse level earning much less than £30000. The maximum a senior sister can earn at band 7 is around £40000 (one senior sister per ward), the starting point is much lower, after that they need to move into band 8 roles which are normally non clinical , away from direct patient care although some specialist nurses (again a tiny minority of all nurses) are also in band 8 positions. It varies from trust to trust.
As for not accepting pay freezes, nurses have had their pay frozen for the past 3 years! Are we never again to have a pay rise to keep up with the rising cost of living? I think nurses in general have been very tolerant and accepting up to now in the belief that we're ''all in this together''. Not only has our pay been frozen, we are also being hit with more deductions from our pay so that our take-home salary is a lot less than it was 3 years ago.
My cousin is a police woman. Her training was short and nothing like my 3 year slog followed by course after course (often self-funded). She earns a lot more than me, she will retire when she is 47 with a much bigger pension than I will get at 60. Her lump sum will be more than twice what I will get. We often have police guarding our patients, they chat and are appalled at how little we earn for what we do. I consider myself to be far more highly skilled than most of them but earn considerably less. We may not be putting our lives at risk but the lives of our patients do depend on the skills, knowledge and ability of the nursing workforce - and not just in ITU where I work.
There is no ''holier than thou'' attitude, just being realistic about how badly nurses are treated by this government and how little it seems to value what we do.
This is a ridiculously ignorant decision. If they repeated it year on year it would completely screw the pay scales up because only the pay point at the top of each scale would go up creating a bigger and bigger gap between the top of the scale and all the lower points.
The point of increments is that the full value of the post is the top point and the lower points represent the time taken to acquire the skills and experience to do the job at full capacity. If they don't want public sector posts to be on a scale there will be a single value for each post and in order to recruit experienced staff it would need to be at the upper end.
And to say that they value hard working public servants is a sick joke.
I honestly don't think there should be automatic pay increases for time served/gaining experience. I am not against performance related pay, I believe that fairly reflects the work individuals put in to their job whatever industry you work in. It annoys me that not only with these automatic increments NHS want the extra 1% which put would a pay increase at twice the rate of inflation. Frankly to even find that public sector pay is still increasing in the current climate I think is astounding. I think the 1% is appropriate, however when the average nursing wage is £30k a year after time served etc, hos is that justified when my partner who works as a police officer receives 6k less than that and hasn't had an increase in 4 years. Complete pay freeze in all that time, whilst also policing budgets have been absolutely decimated by the current government.
What annoys me is once part of the public sector wants to be and seems to be largely immune from pay freezes yet other staff in the public sector who are in eminently more danger have to suffer budget cuts and complete wage freezes. I am in no way saying there should be a race to the bottom but it bothers me how we seem to hold those that work for the NHS with a holier than thou attitude compared to those who put their lives on the line working for the police, army, or security services. All of the roles are highly skilled but why really why should the NHS be largely exempt from pay freezes?
Police officer pay is greater than nurses pay. A Staff nurse starts on just over 21K to a maximum of just under 28K which is band 5. Those above this band at 6 & 7 are sisters, ward managers, team managers etc.,
Police officers pay increases year on year up to a maximum.
The NHS have had a pay freeze for the past 4 years. Incremental pay is not simply automatic pay simply for time in the job. Nurses are required to continually undertake courses and study to enhance their skills & knowledge for if they do not they cannot re-register every year with the Nursing & Midwifery council and cannot work as nurses in the UK.
Incremental pay reflects the growing experience, skills and subsequent responsibilities one obtains while in the job. For example, a newly qualified staff nurse will earn the minimum of just over 21K while an experienced staff nurse who may have been in the job for 20-30 years will earn the maximum of just under 28K. There is a big difference between the two even though they are on the same pay band.
Should they be paid the same. Of course not, for their skills and responsibilities will be very different.
Btw as I am sure you are well aware a police constable pay goes up to a maximum of 36,500 over 7 years, as from April 2013, compared with a staff nurse (band 5) pay of a maximum of 27,901 over 7 years.
Police sergeants pay rises to a maximum of 41,040 after 4 years as from April 2014, compared to a band 6 nurses pay of 34,530 after 8 years. Band 7 nurses pay rises to a maximum of 40,558.
I believe police officers deserve these levels of pay. However, I do not wish to be divisive and believe nurses deserve better.
I never understand why people fight amongst themselves in a race to the bottom in situations like these. This in-fighting is exactly what the government wants. The working classes are being absolutely shafted by this government, and we should all be pulling together to demand something different. If your working conditions and pay are poor, then join a union and fight for better! Don't belittle those who are striving for and demanding better conditions within their own profession.
I also find it incredibly frustrating that people who have never worked in the NHS seem to think they know it all, and are saying that nurses should be grateful because they are already getting a 3% pay rise! I am a nurse and progession pay does not amount to a pay rise! You start at the bottom of a scale, so that as a newly qualified nurse (or starting at the bottom of any band) you actually earn below the advertised rate, and you gradually progress up the scale as you acquire skills and become a more experienced, competent practitioner.
Also, the small print of Jeremy Hunt's announcement shows that NHS staff who are getting the 1% 'pay rise' (which is effectively a pay cut) only receive it on a one-off basis, unless the unions agree to freeze progression pay. This effectively means that the next generation of NHS staff would be getting relatively less than those who went before them i.e. earning less money for exactly the same level of skill and experience. Is that fair??
This government has utter contempt for the NHS and its staff, and it knows that it has us over a barrel as the vast majority of NHS workers would refuse to strike because we care about patients (despite what some people seem to think). But there comes a breaking point for everyone, and I think this could very well be it. I personally would fully support strike action. There is only so much you can take, and it's not just about us getting more money; poor working conditions lead to a demotivated, demoralised workforce, and I don't think anyone would disagree that that's bad for patients (which, ultimately, is what I and most other NHS staff care about most).
what nurses, and the rest of the public sector DO get is an enormously valuable pension scheme, which is worth far more in income than any of them appreciate.
It wouldn't surprise me if some time in the future a government does not have to reduce all public sector pensions by say 25%
you just don't get it. The whole public sector in this country is overpaid. it needs a sustained period of no increases and other adjustments to bring the relative pay scales to where they ought to be. That is what is taking place.
Now what they maybe ought to do is CUT a lot of pay - say doctor's pay by 10-20%. for a start.
what nurses, and the rest of the public sector DO get is an enormously valuable pension scheme, which is worth far more in income than any of them appreciate.
It wouldn't surprise me if some time in the future a government does not have to reduce all public sector pensions by say 25%
you just don't get it. The whole public sector in this country is overpaid. it needs a sustained period of no increases and other adjustments to bring the relative pay scales to where they ought to be. That is what is taking place.
Now what they maybe ought to do is CUT a lot of pay - say doctor's pay by 10-20%. for a start.
if the pay is so good why do we need so many nurses from over seas, and why are so many leaving the NHS
I never understand why people fight amongst themselves in a race to the bottom in situations like these. This in-fighting is exactly what the government wants. The working classes are being absolutely shafted by this government, and we should all be pulling together to demand something different. If your working conditions and pay are poor, then join a union and fight for better! Don't belittle those who are striving for and demanding better conditions within their own profession.
I also find it incredibly frustrating that people who have never worked in the NHS seem to think they know it all, and are saying that nurses should be grateful because they are already getting a 3% pay rise! I am a nurse and progession pay does not amount to a pay rise! You start at the bottom of a scale, so that as a newly qualified nurse (or starting at the bottom of any band) you actually earn below the advertised rate, and you gradually progress up the scale as you acquire skills and become a more experienced, competent practitioner.
Also, the small print of Jeremy Hunt's announcement shows that NHS staff who are getting the 1% 'pay rise' (which is effectively a pay cut) only receive it on a one-off basis, unless the unions agree to freeze progression pay. This effectively means that the next generation of NHS staff would be getting relatively less than those who went before them i.e. earning less money for exactly the same level of skill and experience. Is that fair??
This government has utter contempt for the NHS and its staff, and it knows that it has us over a barrel as the vast majority of NHS workers would refuse to strike because we care about patients (despite what some people seem to think). But there comes a breaking point for everyone, and I think this could very well be it. I personally would fully support strike action. There is only so much you can take, and it's not just about us getting more money; poor working conditions lead to a demotivated, demoralised workforce, and I don't think anyone would disagree that that's bad for patients (which, ultimately, is what I and most other NHS staff care about most).
That's a great post, gymnastic.
Yup, The Tories have always used the dirty "divide and rule" strategy.
The rich get richer, everyone else gets poorer.
Blame the very poorest people for the reason why everyone else is getting poorer.
Get everyone fighting/arguing against each other.
Resulting in little or no unity and a much weaker resistance.
We all know what the Nasty Party really want.
They want to privatise the NHS.
They'll continue claiming that the NHS is no longer sustainable.
And, as you said, the workforce will become so demoralised to the point where they go on strike.
And we all know what happens next!
Same old Tories.
It's quite depressing/baffling to see them have so many conditioned apologists on here....
what nurses, and the rest of the public sector DO get is an enormously valuable pension scheme, which is worth far more in income than any of them appreciate.
It wouldn't surprise me if some time in the future a government does not have to reduce all public sector pensions by say 25%
you just don't get it. The whole public sector in this country is overpaid. it needs a sustained period of no increases and other adjustments to bring the relative pay scales to where they ought to be. That is what is taking place.
Now what they maybe ought to do is CUT a lot of pay - say doctor's pay by 10-20%. for a start.
Yup, The Tories have always used the dirty "divide and rule" strategy.
The rich get richer, everyone else gets poorer.
Blame the very poorest people for the reason why everyone else is getting poorer.
Get everyone fighting/arguing against each other.
Resulting in little or no unity and a much weaker resistance.
We all know what the Nasty Party really want.
They want to privatise the NHS.
They'll continue claiming that the NHS is no longer sustainable.
And, as you said, the workforce will become so demoralised to the point where they go on strike.
And we all know what happens next!
Same old Tories.
It's quite depressing/baffling to see them have so many conditioned apologists on here....
Exactly. Hit the nail on the head. They keep running the NHS on fewer and fewer resources until they claim that it is unsustainable and the only solution is private healthcare companies (which conveniently are run by their rich friends). I find it incredibly depressing that people are unable to see this.
Of course you won't find them mentioning that Tory MP Nadhim Zawahi (who is a close advisor of David Cameron) is on the board of directors of a company which is now staffing the new Clinical Commissioning Groups. This company has so far siphoned off £2.6 million from the NHS since 2010. The whole thing is so corrupt it's almost unbelievable.
I am so so angry at this government I can't adequately express it! I don't know why I should be surprised; they are Tories and never change. I'm if anything more disgusted by the Liberals, who pretend to have principles and then conveniently forget about them when it comes to actually making a stand about something they supposedly disagree with; they have no backbone whatsoever.
This country has one of the world's largest economies; the money IS there to finance the NHS, we just need a government who actually cares enough to do so. Only a few weeks ago (in reference to the flooding in the south east), David Cameron was telling us that we were a wealthy country and that money was no object. Of course, this was in cast-iron Tory-voter country, so of course money is no object. When it comes to ordinary people, they can all go hang apparently.
This government is privatising the health service, and we are allowing it to happen by not taking any action. We need to show as many people as possible what they are doing. They are selling off our NHS and it is not theirs to sell! It belongs to us; we all pay for it through our taxes and it should be for EVERYONE. Healthcare should not be a privilege reserved for a wealthy elite.
if the pay is so good why do we need so many nurses from over seas, and why are so many leaving the NHS
well if we are talking about nurses in particular - we do not NEED nurses from overseas.
what they do is make it extraordinarily difficult for nurses who have ceased to practice (eg, to raise families) to return to nursing afterwards, while making it very easy for foreign nurses, who are possibly not as well trained, and certainly do not speak English as a first language to come and take jobs in the UK.
We do not actually need any foreign workers, especially when there are millions of UK people ready to do jobs.
Gym, the money for the floods is in the low millions which is pocket change for the country and you cant compair it to the nhs budget. Do tell us where the money that will fix the nhs will come from, how much will be needed and what it should be spent on.
well if we are talking about nurses in particular - we do not NEED nurses from overseas.
what they do is make it extraordinarily difficult for nurses who have ceased to practice (eg, to raise families) to return to nursing afterwards, while making it very easy for foreign nurses, who are possibly not as well trained, and certainly do not speak English as a first language to come and take jobs in the UK.
We do not actually need any foreign workers, especially when there are millions of UK people ready to do jobs.
There is a shortage of nurses now. Our trust finds it increasingly difficult to recruit nurses. Less people are coming into nursing and of those who do commence the course many drop out before they finish their studies.
It takes three years to become a registered nurse - it is a difficult and very demanding job. Having a reasonable financial reward for the work does help. If nurses pay drops even further it will only exacerbate the shortage and trusts will look abroad for nurses at a greater cost overall.
Usually when there is a shortage of workers their pay rises. Not so for the nurses it seems.
Gym, the money for the floods is in the low millions which is pocket change for the country and you cant compair it to the nhs budget. Do tell us where the money that will fix the nhs will come from, how much will be needed and what it should be spent on.
Well, off the top of my head they could start with the billions that are lost through tax avoidance. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think the tax gap is currently something like £34bn, which would go quite a long way in the NHS. There could also be a closer look at other things which are costing far too much (and yet are apparently more important than the nation's health) e.g. Trident, executive remuneration, the reduction of the top rate of income tax etc.
They have also given £3bn to "consultants" so that the NHS can be reorganised for private-sector sell off (after we were expressly told "there will be no top-down reorganisation of the NHS).
I would spend the money on NHS staff! Not the expensive locum doctors and agency nurses that are currently being paid for and are (of course) being supplied by companies run by Tory donors and Tory peers. I would also take services such as cleaning back in-house rather than outsourcing them to private companies (you can trace the stratospheric rise of infections such as MRSA directly back to this disastrous move).
Recent studies have shown that for every extra patient a nurse is forced to look after over a certain number (apologies but | can't recall what the number is off the top of my head) the death rate rises (I think by 7% but again I haven't got the study to hand right now). We should be looking at implementing minimum nurse-patient ratios, as they currently are in Wales, and sticking to them!
Avoidance is not illegal so how can it be lost - the tax wasn't liable in the first place.
It may not be illegal but it's still immoral dodging of social responsibility by the people/companies involved, and the fact remains that the sums of money involved could do a hell of a lot of social good.
It may not be illegal but it's still immoral dodging of social responsibility by the people/companies involved, and the fact remains that the sums of money involved could do a hell of a lot of social good.
Tax receipts are based on the Law not your (or anyone elses) morals - if you dont want people to avoid Tax change the Law (ie scrap ISA's and the like) - simple.
Tax receipts are based on the Law not your (or anyone elses) morals - if you dont want people to avoid Tax change the Law (ie scrap ISA's and the like) - simple.
Well, quite. I'd love the law to be changed so that people can't avoid tax
well if we are talking about nurses in particular - we do not NEED nurses from overseas.
what they do is make it extraordinarily difficult for nurses who have ceased to practice (eg, to raise families) to return to nursing afterwards, while making it very easy for foreign nurses, who are possibly not as well trained, and certainly do not speak English as a first language to come and take jobs in the UK.
We do not actually need any foreign workers, especially when there are millions of UK people ready to do jobs.
No it is not difficult for nurses to come back into nursing if they want to, and YES we do have a shortage, and we don't have millions of people ready to do nursing jobs, that is why we have thousands of foreign nurses working in the NHS. A campaign to persuade thousands of retired nurses back to work has been launched to help solve the growing staffing crisis in the NHS.
It is understood that letters to nurses will be sent out in the New Year offering them the opportunity to return to work. Others who have left to start families or change careers will also be targeted.
The project is being spearheaded by Health Education England, the organisation responsible for setting safe staffing levels, which has expressed serious concern about shortfalls in many parts of the country.
But a spokesman for patients’ lobby group Health Emergency warned: “Although any idea to help improve staffing levels is good, this plan is indicative of the mess this Government has made of our health service. The fact we are training fewer and fewer nurses is a disgrace. Where will we be in 20 years time?”
The Royal College of Nursing says there are currently 20,000 unfilled nursing posts, which means that one-fifth of hospital wards are operating with “unsafe” staffing levels.
No it is not difficult for nurses to come back into nursing if they want to.
It's not as easy as you might think. It's expensive- over £1000 to undertake a course that lasts a few months, and that's without the added costs of a DBS check (despite already having one from when you were nursing before) and occupational health checks, including vaccinations which can be incredibly expensive.
It's not as easy as you might think. It's expensive- over £1000 to undertake a course that lasts a few months, and that's without the added costs of a DBS check (despite already having one from when you were nursing before) and occupational health checks, including vaccinations which can be incredibly expensive.
The point being nurses that have left or retied are being asked to come back into nursing, as we do have a shortage of nurses, And that foreign nurses are NOT stopping nurses coming back which what the OP was saying
Comments
There are no longer automatic incremental rises through the pay bands because, now, nurses need to show they have achieved set objectives before they proceed through what is called a 'gateway'. Therefore, pay is now performance related. In addition, those nurses who have been at the top of their pay band for years (like me) don't get an incremental rise anymore. There are usually between 5-7 points within a band and each band overlaps with the band above it and below it.
The average wage is £30000 because it takes into account the top nurses' pay in any trust such as the nursing directors and matrons. Obviously, the vast majority of nurses in the country are at basic staff nurse level earning much less than £30000. The maximum a senior sister can earn at band 7 is around £40000 (one senior sister per ward), the starting point is much lower, after that they need to move into band 8 roles which are normally non clinical , away from direct patient care although some specialist nurses (again a tiny minority of all nurses) are also in band 8 positions. It varies from trust to trust.
As for not accepting pay freezes, nurses have had their pay frozen for the past 3 years! Are we never again to have a pay rise to keep up with the rising cost of living? I think nurses in general have been very tolerant and accepting up to now in the belief that we're ''all in this together''. Not only has our pay been frozen, we are also being hit with more deductions from our pay so that our take-home salary is a lot less than it was 3 years ago.
My cousin is a police woman. Her training was short and nothing like my 3 year slog followed by course after course (often self-funded). She earns a lot more than me, she will retire when she is 47 with a much bigger pension than I will get at 60. Her lump sum will be more than twice what I will get. We often have police guarding our patients, they chat and are appalled at how little we earn for what we do. I consider myself to be far more highly skilled than most of them but earn considerably less. We may not be putting our lives at risk but the lives of our patients do depend on the skills, knowledge and ability of the nursing workforce - and not just in ITU where I work.
There is no ''holier than thou'' attitude, just being realistic about how badly nurses are treated by this government and how little it seems to value what we do.
Absolutely spot on.
Police officer pay is greater than nurses pay. A Staff nurse starts on just over 21K to a maximum of just under 28K which is band 5. Those above this band at 6 & 7 are sisters, ward managers, team managers etc.,
Police officers pay increases year on year up to a maximum.
The NHS have had a pay freeze for the past 4 years. Incremental pay is not simply automatic pay simply for time in the job. Nurses are required to continually undertake courses and study to enhance their skills & knowledge for if they do not they cannot re-register every year with the Nursing & Midwifery council and cannot work as nurses in the UK.
Incremental pay reflects the growing experience, skills and subsequent responsibilities one obtains while in the job. For example, a newly qualified staff nurse will earn the minimum of just over 21K while an experienced staff nurse who may have been in the job for 20-30 years will earn the maximum of just under 28K. There is a big difference between the two even though they are on the same pay band.
Should they be paid the same. Of course not, for their skills and responsibilities will be very different.
Btw as I am sure you are well aware a police constable pay goes up to a maximum of 36,500 over 7 years, as from April 2013, compared with a staff nurse (band 5) pay of a maximum of 27,901 over 7 years.
Police sergeants pay rises to a maximum of 41,040 after 4 years as from April 2014, compared to a band 6 nurses pay of 34,530 after 8 years. Band 7 nurses pay rises to a maximum of 40,558.
I believe police officers deserve these levels of pay. However, I do not wish to be divisive and believe nurses deserve better.
I also find it incredibly frustrating that people who have never worked in the NHS seem to think they know it all, and are saying that nurses should be grateful because they are already getting a 3% pay rise! I am a nurse and progession pay does not amount to a pay rise! You start at the bottom of a scale, so that as a newly qualified nurse (or starting at the bottom of any band) you actually earn below the advertised rate, and you gradually progress up the scale as you acquire skills and become a more experienced, competent practitioner.
Also, the small print of Jeremy Hunt's announcement shows that NHS staff who are getting the 1% 'pay rise' (which is effectively a pay cut) only receive it on a one-off basis, unless the unions agree to freeze progression pay. This effectively means that the next generation of NHS staff would be getting relatively less than those who went before them i.e. earning less money for exactly the same level of skill and experience. Is that fair??
This government has utter contempt for the NHS and its staff, and it knows that it has us over a barrel as the vast majority of NHS workers would refuse to strike because we care about patients (despite what some people seem to think). But there comes a breaking point for everyone, and I think this could very well be it. I personally would fully support strike action. There is only so much you can take, and it's not just about us getting more money; poor working conditions lead to a demotivated, demoralised workforce, and I don't think anyone would disagree that that's bad for patients (which, ultimately, is what I and most other NHS staff care about most).
It wouldn't surprise me if some time in the future a government does not have to reduce all public sector pensions by say 25%
you just don't get it. The whole public sector in this country is overpaid. it needs a sustained period of no increases and other adjustments to bring the relative pay scales to where they ought to be. That is what is taking place.
Now what they maybe ought to do is CUT a lot of pay - say doctor's pay by 10-20%. for a start.
if the pay is so good why do we need so many nurses from over seas, and why are so many leaving the NHS
That's a great post, gymnastic.
Yup, The Tories have always used the dirty "divide and rule" strategy.
The rich get richer, everyone else gets poorer.
Blame the very poorest people for the reason why everyone else is getting poorer.
Get everyone fighting/arguing against each other.
Resulting in little or no unity and a much weaker resistance.
We all know what the Nasty Party really want.
They want to privatise the NHS.
They'll continue claiming that the NHS is no longer sustainable.
And, as you said, the workforce will become so demoralised to the point where they go on strike.
And we all know what happens next!
Same old Tories.
It's quite depressing/baffling to see them have so many conditioned apologists on here....
WOW!!!, just wow
Exactly. Hit the nail on the head. They keep running the NHS on fewer and fewer resources until they claim that it is unsustainable and the only solution is private healthcare companies (which conveniently are run by their rich friends). I find it incredibly depressing that people are unable to see this.
Of course you won't find them mentioning that Tory MP Nadhim Zawahi (who is a close advisor of David Cameron) is on the board of directors of a company which is now staffing the new Clinical Commissioning Groups. This company has so far siphoned off £2.6 million from the NHS since 2010. The whole thing is so corrupt it's almost unbelievable.
I am so so angry at this government I can't adequately express it! I don't know why I should be surprised; they are Tories and never change. I'm if anything more disgusted by the Liberals, who pretend to have principles and then conveniently forget about them when it comes to actually making a stand about something they supposedly disagree with; they have no backbone whatsoever.
This country has one of the world's largest economies; the money IS there to finance the NHS, we just need a government who actually cares enough to do so. Only a few weeks ago (in reference to the flooding in the south east), David Cameron was telling us that we were a wealthy country and that money was no object. Of course, this was in cast-iron Tory-voter country, so of course money is no object. When it comes to ordinary people, they can all go hang apparently.
This government is privatising the health service, and we are allowing it to happen by not taking any action. We need to show as many people as possible what they are doing. They are selling off our NHS and it is not theirs to sell! It belongs to us; we all pay for it through our taxes and it should be for EVERYONE. Healthcare should not be a privilege reserved for a wealthy elite.
For some interesting reading, take a look at this
http://socialinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/compilation-of-parliamentary-financial.html
A (by no means exhaustive) list of parliamentarians who have a financial interest in private healthcare (or associated) companies.
well if we are talking about nurses in particular - we do not NEED nurses from overseas.
what they do is make it extraordinarily difficult for nurses who have ceased to practice (eg, to raise families) to return to nursing afterwards, while making it very easy for foreign nurses, who are possibly not as well trained, and certainly do not speak English as a first language to come and take jobs in the UK.
We do not actually need any foreign workers, especially when there are millions of UK people ready to do jobs.
There is a shortage of nurses now. Our trust finds it increasingly difficult to recruit nurses. Less people are coming into nursing and of those who do commence the course many drop out before they finish their studies.
It takes three years to become a registered nurse - it is a difficult and very demanding job. Having a reasonable financial reward for the work does help. If nurses pay drops even further it will only exacerbate the shortage and trusts will look abroad for nurses at a greater cost overall.
Usually when there is a shortage of workers their pay rises. Not so for the nurses it seems.
Well, off the top of my head they could start with the billions that are lost through tax avoidance. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think the tax gap is currently something like £34bn, which would go quite a long way in the NHS. There could also be a closer look at other things which are costing far too much (and yet are apparently more important than the nation's health) e.g. Trident, executive remuneration, the reduction of the top rate of income tax etc.
They have also given £3bn to "consultants" so that the NHS can be reorganised for private-sector sell off (after we were expressly told "there will be no top-down reorganisation of the NHS).
I would spend the money on NHS staff! Not the expensive locum doctors and agency nurses that are currently being paid for and are (of course) being supplied by companies run by Tory donors and Tory peers. I would also take services such as cleaning back in-house rather than outsourcing them to private companies (you can trace the stratospheric rise of infections such as MRSA directly back to this disastrous move).
Recent studies have shown that for every extra patient a nurse is forced to look after over a certain number (apologies but | can't recall what the number is off the top of my head) the death rate rises (I think by 7% but again I haven't got the study to hand right now). We should be looking at implementing minimum nurse-patient ratios, as they currently are in Wales, and sticking to them!
Avoidance is not illegal so how can it be lost - the tax wasn't liable in the first place.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9VyQhhDwmr8&autoplay=1
It may not be illegal but it's still immoral dodging of social responsibility by the people/companies involved, and the fact remains that the sums of money involved could do a hell of a lot of social good.
Is that the one where he got conned in Cuba?
Tax receipts are based on the Law not your (or anyone elses) morals - if you dont want people to avoid Tax change the Law (ie scrap ISA's and the like) - simple.
Well, quite. I'd love the law to be changed so that people can't avoid tax
No it is not difficult for nurses to come back into nursing if they want to, and YES we do have a shortage, and we don't have millions of people ready to do nursing jobs, that is why we have thousands of foreign nurses working in the NHS. A campaign to persuade thousands of retired nurses back to work has been launched to help solve the growing staffing crisis in the NHS.
It is understood that letters to nurses will be sent out in the New Year offering them the opportunity to return to work. Others who have left to start families or change careers will also be targeted.
The project is being spearheaded by Health Education England, the organisation responsible for setting safe staffing levels, which has expressed serious concern about shortfalls in many parts of the country.
But a spokesman for patients’ lobby group Health Emergency warned: “Although any idea to help improve staffing levels is good, this plan is indicative of the mess this Government has made of our health service. The fact we are training fewer and fewer nurses is a disgrace. Where will we be in 20 years time?”
The Royal College of Nursing says there are currently 20,000 unfilled nursing posts, which means that one-fifth of hospital wards are operating with “unsafe” staffing levels.
So you would abolish all personal tax allowances then?
People would start paying tax on every single pound that they earn?
And that would mean paying an extra £40 in tax per week for those earning only £10000 per year. What a stupid idea.
The Conservatives won't properly tax Bankers' bonuses because they're too soft to do it.
It's not as easy as you might think. It's expensive- over £1000 to undertake a course that lasts a few months, and that's without the added costs of a DBS check (despite already having one from when you were nursing before) and occupational health checks, including vaccinations which can be incredibly expensive.
The point being nurses that have left or retied are being asked to come back into nursing, as we do have a shortage of nurses, And that foreign nurses are NOT stopping nurses coming back which what the OP was saying