I am fully expecting to get a pay cut this April as my 1% pay rise is wiped out by my increased contributions to my much impaired pension. I currently take home less money than I did when this government came to power in 2010
I know the government has a need to curb expenses due to the large national debt. However this government has embarked on a plan to re organise the NHS that is reputedly costing £3 billion pounds and no one asked for.
Now let me get something straight. I am not poorly paid. I earn well over the national average. However I have received a pay cut over the last 5 years where inflation has been around 3% over that time.
The irritation to me is that this is political expediency and ideology rather than market forces.
A report yesterday claimed that public services are generally paid more the private sector.
The BBC report does suggest that this may be due in part to the fact that more public sector workers are highly qualified than in the private sector. As a for instance The NHS confederation claims that at least half of NHS staff are doctors, nurses and other scientific staff. All of whom have to be highly and specifically trained. Many of us do not have skills that are readily transferable to the private sector other than healthcare.
Many people outside the NHS might regard me as being very lucky to have a job and a well paid one. And yes I have weathered the global recession on full pay. However that is where any connection with the recession ends. The demand for my services has not been effected by the economic crisis. I am busier than ever, the hospital I work for is regularly at red alert for bed space. A private limited company would have considered to have done well for itself if it had increased it's workload in such a fashion.
This nation spends less on healthcare than most industrialised nations. So this is an ideologically driven pay rise by a government that does not believe in the provision of public services.
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