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| NHS chief accuses Jeremy Hunt of 'own goal' over pay rises | NHS chief accuses Jeremy Hunt of 'own goal' over pay rises |
| (3 months later) | |
| Simon Stevens insists increases should not depend on higher productivity and health secretary must find new money to boost salaries | |
| Denis Campbell Health policy editor | |
| Tue 31 Oct 2017 19.01 GMT | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 14.33 GMT | |
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| The head of the NHS has rejected Jeremy Hunt’s insistence that its staff’s pay rise next year should depend on them improving their productivity as “an own goal of the first magnitude”. | The head of the NHS has rejected Jeremy Hunt’s insistence that its staff’s pay rise next year should depend on them improving their productivity as “an own goal of the first magnitude”. |
| Simon Stevens’s remarks set him on a collision course with the health secretary weeks before the budget, in which Philip Hammond is expected to set out what salary increase the NHS’s 1.7 million staff will get from next April. | Simon Stevens’s remarks set him on a collision course with the health secretary weeks before the budget, in which Philip Hammond is expected to set out what salary increase the NHS’s 1.7 million staff will get from next April. |
| Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, also made clear that the government had to give the service the full amount of extra money needed to cover the cost of whatever award is finally made. | Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, also made clear that the government had to give the service the full amount of extra money needed to cover the cost of whatever award is finally made. |
| Speaking at a conference on Tuesday of the NHS managers’ union Managers in Partnership, Stevens said that ministers “have some big choices coming up over the next year or two” on what to do about NHS pay. | Speaking at a conference on Tuesday of the NHS managers’ union Managers in Partnership, Stevens said that ministers “have some big choices coming up over the next year or two” on what to do about NHS pay. |
| “There will be a big choice for government on what to do on public sector pay including pay in the NHS,” added Stevens. “It is very important pay rises for the NHS are properly funded rather than in some sense having to be offset by other parts of what we are doing. That would be an own goal of the first magnitude,” he added, in comments reported by the Health Service Journal. | “There will be a big choice for government on what to do on public sector pay including pay in the NHS,” added Stevens. “It is very important pay rises for the NHS are properly funded rather than in some sense having to be offset by other parts of what we are doing. That would be an own goal of the first magnitude,” he added, in comments reported by the Health Service Journal. |
| He spoke on the day that Hunt reiterated that the chancellor wanted NHS pay tied to higher productivity. Giving evidence to the Commons health select committee, Hunt refused to be drawn on how much of the increase should be linked to staff becoming more productive. | He spoke on the day that Hunt reiterated that the chancellor wanted NHS pay tied to higher productivity. Giving evidence to the Commons health select committee, Hunt refused to be drawn on how much of the increase should be linked to staff becoming more productive. |
| But NHS experts said it was unrealistic to expect the NHS to make significant further improvements in staff productivity, especially after saving £9bn in England between 2010/11 and 2014/15. Forcing it to part-fund the increase itself could force NHS trusts to cut staff, it was claimed. | But NHS experts said it was unrealistic to expect the NHS to make significant further improvements in staff productivity, especially after saving £9bn in England between 2010/11 and 2014/15. Forcing it to part-fund the increase itself could force NHS trusts to cut staff, it was claimed. |
| “The government needs to rule out the idea of asking an overstretched NHS to find its own money to cover pay increases. The deep savings the NHS is making are already needed to cover rising costs,” said Professor John Appleby, the chief economist at the Nuffield Trust thinktank. | “The government needs to rule out the idea of asking an overstretched NHS to find its own money to cover pay increases. The deep savings the NHS is making are already needed to cover rising costs,” said Professor John Appleby, the chief economist at the Nuffield Trust thinktank. |
| “Significantly higher wages within the same budget could only be achieved by cutting the number of staff. This would make matters worse at a time when a serious staffing shortage is already creating difficulties in hospitals and surgeries across the country,” he added. | “Significantly higher wages within the same budget could only be achieved by cutting the number of staff. This would make matters worse at a time when a serious staffing shortage is already creating difficulties in hospitals and surgeries across the country,” he added. |
| Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “Simon Stevens is right to say it would be an ‘an own goal of the first magnitude’ for the chancellor to try to fund a pay rise from the existing NHS budgets. The reality is the NHS is going through the biggest financial squeeze ever, which has led to hospitals over-full, treatments delayed and services cut back.” | Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “Simon Stevens is right to say it would be an ‘an own goal of the first magnitude’ for the chancellor to try to fund a pay rise from the existing NHS budgets. The reality is the NHS is going through the biggest financial squeeze ever, which has led to hospitals over-full, treatments delayed and services cut back.” |
| Simon Stevens | |
| NHS | |
| Jeremy Hunt | |
| Health | |
| Philip Hammond | |
| Labour | |
| news | |
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