Cancer and GP service budgets could be cut for NHS staff pay rise

As reported by The Independent, Royal College of Nursing calls for a five per cent pay rise after a ‘decade of real terms pay cuts’

Ahead of proposals on NHS staff pay rises from the government, NHS England directors have warned in lieu of additional government funding, any pay rise for staff above three per cent may be taken from other healthcare budgets, such as cancer.

The warning also comes as the NHS is set to lose 6,000 jobs from three of its major managing organisations: NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Digital. NHS staff working at the three national bodies were told on Thursday their jobs are at risk as the organisations seek to cut roles by 30 to 40 per cent.

NHSE chief executive Amanda Pritchar wrote in a letter to NHS England staff: “We need to reduce the size of our organisation, so that we are focused on enabling and supporting change and empowering systems to lead locally. This means being rigorous about the activity our new organisation undertakes. We need to simplify how we work across the new organisation and how we work with the wider NHS.

“As the NHS maintains its recovery from the pandemic, and the economic position across the country is tighter, we also need to continue to ensure our resources are used as effectively and efficiently as possible.”

The letter said based on initial work, by the end of 2024, the organisations will be between 30 and 40 per cent smaller. They will be restricting any external recruitment and will be looking to offer voluntary redundancy schemes from autumn, Ms Pritchard told staff.

NHS leaders also levied a warning on Thursday around NHS pay rise issues, stating that should the government implement a pay raise staff of more than three per cent, the health service would be forced to reduce budgets for cancer and primary care.

The government is expected to make its offer for pay rises within the next couple of weeks, however, has made no indication it will provide additional funding to the NHS to support an increase of more than 3 per cent.

Sources have said the government offer is likely to be in the region of four point five per cent, which would mean the NHS finding £1.5bn within its budget to fund pay increases.