Nurses forced to take pay cut

The average wage of a bank nurse has been chopped by £4 an hour, from £14.92 to £10.90.

It is one in a series of money-saving measures, described as "uncomfortable" by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust's outgoing chief executive in a letter earlier this month.

The trust is struggling to clear an £8 million debt. Staff say targeting lower-paid workers - often parents who fit shifts around their families - is ill-conceived.

There are about 1,600 nurses in the trust's bank to provide cover for staff shortages, holidays or sickness.

Half are already employed by the trust and joined the bank for extra shifts.

The remaining 800 work solely within the bank system. These will be worst affected by the pay cut.

One nurse contacted The Argus saying many were angry about the changes.

She said: "We deliberately chose the bank option only because we have other commitments such as young children or elderly relatives which means it can be difficult to do some shifts.

"We want to do as much work as possible so being part of the bank gives us plenty of flexibility.

"Cutting how much we are being paid means people are going to be out of pocket just because they can't fit in with the shifts the hospitals want them to do.

"I thought the trust had a shortage of nursing staff. Treating the ones they have like this is not going to help.

"There are plenty of managers at the trust who are on big wages but it is the people on smaller wages who are suffering. There is something wrong there.

"The trust says it can offer flexible hours if we get an ordinary contract but that often does not work in practice. We are effectively being given a pay cut."

Trust director of nursing Karen Parsley said the new rate of pay, which will be introduced on May 1, was still on a par with agency levels.

She said bank-only staff were being encouraged to become fully employed with the trust.

They would get a better hourly rate with extra benefits and pensions and shifts offered would still be flexible.

She said: "We will be speaking to those affected and trying to work out the best possible agreement over potential contracts, times, hours and shifts.

"Like everywhere else the trust has a shortage of nursing staff and has had to rely on agency and bank staff.

"We have been working to make savings by encouraging staff to become part of the bank instead of joining an agency.

"We did this by making the rate of pay competitive with agency staff. We can no longer afford to pay at that level but the amount we are now paying is still competitive with all but the most expensive agencies."

Overspending on agency nurses was one of the reasons the trust got into financial difficulty. It spent £22 million on locum staff last year.

Other pressures included having patients treated privately to meet waiting list targets and a sharp rise in the cost of drugs. Staff responsible for booking agency nurses have been told to cut back and only use them a last resort.