Some NHS staff have seen real terms pay cut by almost a third under the Tories, new analysis shows.
Staff contracts have been assessed by consultancy London Economics following repeated claims by Health Secretary Matt Hancock that carers have had a pay rise.
Analysis of complex Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts under which most NHS staff are paid showed that all 54 original pay grades saw salaries fall in real terms after inflation.
The biggest pay grade drop between 2010-11 and 2020-21 was 32%.
The Government is proposing giving the NHS a 1% pay rise even though inflation which is expected to be between 1.5% and 2% later this year.
The real terms cut has been justified by repeated statements from ministers that “newly qualified nurses” received a 12.5% pay rise in the last three-year AfC contract.
MPs are set to debate NHS pay in Parliament on Wednesday.
Report author Dr Gavan Conlon said: “Our analysis makes clear the impact that years of economic austerity have had on NHS pay.
“Any suggestion that nursing staff’s salaries have increased in recent years is inaccurate – they haven’t.”
“Salaries in none of the Agenda for Change pay spines increased over the last 10 years once inflation is factored in”.
“On paper, people’s salaries may have gone up in cash terms, but the reality is that their pay buys them less than it did a decade ago.”
Dr Conlon said that although NHS staff who had moved up a pay grade may have a real-terms pay rise in that time, he added: “Many NHS staff – around 40% - were ‘stuck’ at the top of their pay band irrespective of their performance or competence”.
He said, “a really important issue in the AfC pay system is that it’s very hard to move between pay bands – unless a vacancy opens up. This means that many NHS staff see years of pay stagnation.”
“For those staff stuck at the top of their Band, there’s every chance they will have had a substantial real-terms pay cut over the last decade.
“For example, experienced nursing staff at the top of Band 5 may have seen their pay fall by 17% in real-terms during that time.”
NHS Long Term Plan documents show the Government had planned on the basis of a 2.1% pay rise for staff from April.
Ministers refused to enact a prompt pay rise and instead delivered a 1% pay suggestion to the NHS Pay Review Body.
The body will now take evidence from other bodies before delivering its recommendation in May. The Government will then make the final decision.
Any multi-year contract pay award will not now come in until at least July - well in to the 2021/22 financial year.
The Royal College of Nursing, which commissioned the pay analysis, has called for a 12.5% increase.
In a sign of the fury among workers the college has already threatened strike action over the issue.
Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN general secretary said: “This new analysis shows the devastating real-term cuts to NHS salaries over the past decade.
“Years of austerity have left nursing staff badly underpaid.
“The nation has seen the very best of nursing in the past year - the skill, dedication and professionalism involved.
“The Government cannot possibly stand by this insulting 1% offer.”
The analysis showed that staff at the bottom of Band 5 were paid an average of £24,176 in 2010-11.
If pay had increased with annual inflation since then, this would have increased to £31,750 by 2020-21.
Instead, actual average pay on this spine point stands at £28,223 in 2020-21 - an 11% real terms cut.
Similarly staff at the top of Band five were left with a 17% real terms cut.
It came as the GMB union yesterday delivered its evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body.
It is calling for a “restorative pay” award of a 15% rise or a £2 an hour increase, whichever is more.
Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary, said: “GMB was the only union who said no to the last pay deal and we have been proven right to do so.
“Staff morale is at an all-time low and talks of a paltry 1% pay offer only serves to rub salt in the wounds.
“Another real terms pay cut for our paramedics, nurses, health care assistants, porters and cleaners cannot be the way forward for an NHS service that is on its knees with staffing shortages and backlogs as a result of the pandemic.
“Today, we have called on the PRB to take the anger felt by our members seriously. Their views cannot be dismissed and everyone is watching and waiting for the PRB to do the right thing.
“Our members know their value - even if the Government don’t - and they are prepared to fight for it if they have to.”
Labour has warned without a pay rise for NHS staff there could be an exodus after the pandemic.
Shadow health minister Justin Madders said: “These figures should be ringing alarm bells loud and clear that ministers need to change course and start listening to and valuing the NHS workforce.
“Years of pay freezes, record vacancies and relentless pressure are having their effect with hard pressed staff voting with their feet.”
A Government spokesman said: “We are incredibly grateful to staff across the health sector who are working tirelessly on the frontline of this pandemic.
“Over one million NHS staff continue to benefit from multi-year pay deals agreed with trade unions, which have delivered a pay rise of over 12% for newly qualified nurses and will increase junior doctors’ pay scales by 8.2%.
“Pay rises in the rest of the public sector will be paused this year due to the challenging economic environment, but we will continue to provide pay rises for NHS workers, on top investment in professional development and increased recruitment. That’s with record numbers of doctors and 10,600 more nurses working in our NHS, and with nursing university applications up by over a third.”
