NHS: the “uplift” dwindles

Health Service workers were expecting an extra £700 in September pay packets this month after a much delayed £1,400 flat-rate uplift was added in. But many of us received less than we did in August, and many more got only a few pence more. What happened?

In 2021 the government realised that they could significantly delay announcements on NHS pay without provoking any reaction from the health unions. Since then it has become custom to announce on pay several months after 1 April, when the new pay structure should be introduced.

Although the unions are all in dispute about the miserly £1,400 flat rate increase, the government imposed it anyway, and our September pay packets included the new rate plus five months back pay. But for many the uplift was swallowed by increased pension contributions; in some cases these hikes were so steep that workers ended up owing over £100 more in contributions than they received in pay rise.

The extra £1,400 has tipped many workers into the next pensions contributions bracket, so they have to pay a greater percentage of wages in pensions contributions. Higher grades have been hit harder than lower grades, and part timers have been particularly hard hit as pensions contributions are calculated on full-time equivalent hours.

The way pension contributions are calculated changes again on 1 October. In general this new structure means October will be a better month than September for many workers who lost out. But the changes also mean slightly increased contributions for the same pension — a further attack on our lifetime earnings.

There were a lot of strong words said in NHS hospitals and clinics this week when frontline staff saw their payslips. After 12 years of Tory government what is left of the NHS is being held together by our good will and unpaid overtime. It’s time to send our contemptuous paymasters a message.

Strike ballots will be dropping through letterboxes on 6 October (RCN). Unison’s ballot will follow on 27 October. Every vote counts.