Received from: BDA
Merged into composite 12
Congress recognises that the NHS is currently facing a crisis, with shortages of staff, including dietitians, impacting the quality of care and resulting in a workforce that feels undervalued and overstretched. Fair pay for NHS staff is crucial to address these challenges, ensure safe staffing levels, and provide high-quality patient care.
Congress notes that investing in the NHS workforce can lead to significant economic returns, with every £1 invested generating £4 in wider economic benefit.
Congress is concerned that:
i. NHS staff vacancies remain high at over 100,000 in England alone
ii. public sector wage growth lags behind the private sector, with NHS pay falling significantly in real terms
iii. cost of living increases have eroded recent pay rises, hitting the lowest-paid staff hardest.
iv. 44.8 per cent of NHS staff reported feeling unwell due to work-related stress in 2022
v. the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan relies on ambitious assumptions around productivity, retention, and recruitment, but lacks a serious pay strategy.
Congress calls on the TUC to work with NHS unions to ensure that the government:
a. implements an above-inflation pay rise for all NHS staff in 2024/25 as a first step to addressing real-terms pay decline
b. allocate specific funding to unblock pay barriers to career progression
c. commit to a clear timeline for restoring NHS pay to competitive levels
d. reject divisive proposals for a separate pay spine for nurses and improve Agenda for Change to benefit all staff equitably, instead.
British Dietetic Association