ANGELA BURNS
IT IS often said that the NHS is run on the goodwill of its staff. But that once bottomless well is now running dry.
This summer, thousands of nurses across Wales will partake in a “summer of protest” against their below-inflation pay increase. And who could blame them.
My colleague Stephen Crabb MP spoke some weeks ago about the need for nurses to be given a pay rise after seven years of wage restraint. I have great sympathy with this view.
Right now NHS hospitals the length and breadth of Wales are screaming out for more nurses.
Around an extra 3,000 are needed. The shortfall is making the working lives of many nurses unbearable.
A number of my constituents complain of having to work extra shifts at unsociable hours just to make ends meet.
They say it isn’t just the extra work which hurts – it’s the time spent away from their families. Many feel they are being forced out of the job they love.
It stands to reason that if our nurses are taking on a greater workload and grappling with ever more burdensome responsibilities then they should be suitably rewarded.
Their pay should reflect the value of their work and the people they serve, which is each and every one us.
Scrapping the 1% public sector pay cap would be a bold step towards achieving this.
Now more immediately there is much that Welsh Government ministers here in Wales – where health is devolved – can do to support the improvement of working conditions, recruitment and retention of nurses.
According to the Royal College of Nurses, the majority of nurses are employed in band 5, where average earnings are around £26,360.
The inability to get a foothold onto a higher band is often cited as a reason for leaving nursing.
The creation of more senior registered nurse roles would incentivise nurses to pursue more professional development opportunities, thereby serving to foster a more highly skilled workforce who are also sufficiently motivated to keep practising in the NHS for longer.
Workforce planning is another perennial issue. A study conducted by Cardiff University found that the availability of organisational data across NHS wards was largely inconsistent.
This makes data comparisons more difficult, meaning that resources cannot be as effectively targeted, leading to overstaffing or understaffing – both of which are a detriment to nurses and patients alike.
Moving data collection to a more centralised system would enable senior nurses to much more effectively plan their workforce, removing the burden of overwork, and ensuring that patients receive the quality of care they need.
Greater flexibility over working hours and annual leave would provide workers with the space to take meaningful time away from their profession, so that they are less likely to succumb to stress and its related illnesses.
Last year, nearly 7,945 NHS workers in Wales took 345,957 days of absence due to stress.
A better work-life balance would go some way to addressing this.
Angela Burns is the Shadow Health Secretary