The gruelling effects of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have accelerated the need to review the approach to nurses' pay after a decade of a fall in their average earnings, according to a new report. A study by the Health Foundation found that between 2011 and 2021, NHS nurses' average basic earnings fell by 5% in real terms, after accounting for consumer price inflation.
The government-imposed seven-year public sector pay cap to 2017 led to a "significant" drop in nurses' pay compared with overall average earnings across the wider economy, the charity said. Nurses' average earnings fell by 1.2% a year in real terms between 2010 and 2017, while economy-wide employees' average earnings fell by 0.6% a year in real terms over the same period, the report said.
The foundation said if the NHS Pay Review Body accepted the Government's request to cap any pay increase for 2022/23 at 3%, a further "significant real-terms reduction" in nurses' pay would be the likely outcome.
