Are NHS Staff Overpaid?

- by Elizabeth Redfern

There are many nurses and lower-level workers for the NHS who are being underpaid. So why are so many NHS staff receiving huge salaries? This article explores the debate of the different pay days.

NHS staff - overpaid? Cashfloat

Lucrative Salaries in The NHS

Many NHS hospital workers are earning very low wages for the essential jobs that they do. However, there are some thousands of managers and administrators who are earning six figure sums. The vital work done by nurses, porters and ancillary workers has become even more necessary due to a cut in the levels of staffing. But, some higher paid staff have been protected from the cost-cutting exercise undertaken by the government.

The amount of NHS staff who have received six figures salaries on their payday UK has increased in the three years prior to 2013. In that year, the total amount needed to cover these high salaries was nearly £1 billion.

Scandals at Hospital Trusts

Figures show that many of the people who are receiving the highest wages in the NHS are employed at troubled hospital trusts. These are hospitals that have had or still have ongoing financial difficulties. Alternatively, they could have been at the centre of some of the worst patient care scandals seen since the start of the National Health Service.

Patients at Risk

One of the worst cases of a hospital that has put patients at risk is Southampton Hospital Trust. This hospital employed the largest number of highly paid individuals. The number of staff receiving very high salaries at the hospital was 384. In the meantime, staffing levels for those who care for patients, those who clean and those who provide food were dangerously low.

Staff in the front line of care are having to struggle with deep cuts to funding. They are finding it hard to conceive why other less essential workers are being so highly paid with the best payday.

What Are the Figures?

The Royal College of Nursing has expressed the view that nurses feel very undervalued and that their salaries, which average £21,000 per year, are totally at odds with highly paid executives, some of whom earn a salary that is 16 times higher.

Hospital trusts that responded to enquiries about highly paid executives reported a total of eleven people who earned over £250,000 but, as not all trusts responded, the figure could be higher.

During 2013, it was reported that high earners in the NHS had increased by 50% with many on salaries of over £100,000 and this occurred whilst cuts in staffing levels left patients at risk. In addition, the lower staffing levels impacted on the care and dignity of elderly patients.

Highly Paid Executive Jobs in The NHS

What Return Does the Trust Get?

Senior managers at the NHS who earn over £100,000 per year are keen to point out that they are worthy of the salaries that they are paid. A high earning executive at a hospital trust manages a large workforce and is responsible for budgets and for clinical decisions. They are the ones who decide whether a treatment is cost effective. Their pay reflects the amount of responsibility that is upon their shoulders.

Whilst this should work in theory it does not explain why the finance director in charge of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation trust was receiving a salary of around £340,000 whilst the trust was on the verge of financial meltdown. After going into administration, it was decided to close the trust which was then split up.

Senior Clinical Staff

There is no doubt that senior clinical staff who work with the NHS are paid a high salary that is deserved. These are the consultants that are paid to save lives. The more senior and experienced they are, the higher their salary.

The Department of Health stresses that consultants are receiving around £84,000 a year in a basic wage but if they receive clinical excellence awards they get a bonus of up to £76,000.

The Ethics of High Wages in The NHS

People Who Save Lives

Most of us would be happy to see doctors and nurses paid a higher wage that would encourage them to stay with the NHS and not move to the private health sector. But, there is an ongoing problem about administrators and executives who receive high salaries that some people suggest are not warranted.

When hospital trusts are failing to provide even adequate care to their patients, the public is rightly worried about whether these high six figure salaries are justified.

There is no doubt that most people who work in the NHS are dedicated and do not do their job purely for the monetary reward. However, with the need for ongoing public expenditure savings that are being promised by the government, the fact is that many NHS staff will soon no longer be able to afford to live on the wage that they receive.

Perhaps it is time to change the notion that paying managers and administrators such high salaries will ever result in a National Health Service that does what it is supposed to do.

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About The Author
Elizabeth Redfern
Elizabeth Redfern is a born and bred Londoner who loves the city life. She is a proud chocoholic who enjoys reading, jogging and eating - especially chocolate! Elizabeth attained a first class degree in Mathematics but chose to make a career out of her real passion, writing. She has published many poems and short stories, but decided to join the Cashfloat educational channel writing team because she is passionate about helping people take care of their finances leaving them free to enjoy the finer points of life - most notably (in her opinion), chocolate!
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