Increasing numbers of NHS staff are selling their annual leave in a bid to boost their wages amid the cost of living crisis. A nurse said workers are resorting to the practice "more and more" as prices of fuel and food soar.
In a poll of 1,000 staff, 150 said they had sold holiday days - accepting payment instead of the time off. Meanwhile 700 said they had taken on extra shifts.
If those figures were reflected across the NHS, thousands could be in the same situation, The Mirror reports. NHS nurse and GMB representative Holly Turner said: "People are doing it more and more.
"The members and NHS workers are telling us they do this all the time. What you’ve got is a group of workers who have faced over a decade of cuts to their pay – with some losing up to 20% in real terms – while their food, fuel and all of their bills and shopping is going up."
Ms Turner said a newly-qualified nurse will be paid just under £100, before tax, for giving up a day of annual leave. Overtime shifts are paid fortnightly, meaning the money comes in sooner.
Junior doctor Andrew Meyerson, an A&E medic, said he sold a week’s worth of annual leave last year and plans to do so again. "Sometimes you desperately need a holiday, but we’re all incredibly stressed for money," he said.
"I will pick up extra shifts in order to make ends meet. On my contract, with London rent and bills and supporting my partner, taking an extra three bank shifts every month helps us to not have the financial anxiety we all have at the end of the month.
"And that’s just for bills, we’re not even saving anything."
The 40-year-old said the Government’s pay award for NHS staff is “woefully insufficient” adding: “It shows callous disregard for all the hard work doctors and nurses did in this country during the pandemic and since.”
More than one million NHS staff, including nurses, paramedics and midwives, will receive an increase of at least £1,400 with lowest earners to receive up to 9.3%. Dentists and doctors will get a 4.5% pay rise, with health unions saying the announcement amounts to a real terms pay cut.
Employees can work extra days through an NHS staff bank, which offers temporary shifts, often at better rates because they cover weekends or nights. Mental health nurse Pauline Brady said she had worked during her annual leave this month.
Pauline said: "I’m exhausted. I don’t sleep properly, I don’t eat properly because I’m rushing about."
The Royal College of Nursing's director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “We are concerned of reports that nursing staff are selling their annual leave to help with the cost of living crisis. It’s symptomatic of decades of real terms pay cuts and shows exactly why the pay awards from governments across the UK are wholly inadequate. Nursing staff need proper breaks from work, to help reduce stress and potential burnout, and the financial pressures being faced right now are a real threat to their health and wellbeing.”
The RCN has announced a ballot over strike action. Ms Marquis added: "We know the public is behind us, with the latest polling showing 60% support action. They are joining us in saying enough is enough."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We are incredibly grateful to all our NHS staff for their tireless work in helping to tackle the Covid backlog, and we recognise the pressures caused by the rising cost of living. Over one million NHS staff under the remit of this year’s pay review – including nurses, paramedics and midwives – will receive a pay rise of at least £1,400 with lowest earners to receive up to 9.3%. This is on top of the £37 billion package of support we have in place to help households with their bills.”
