UNISON has welcomed the Scottish government’s offer to open pay talks for health workers in Scotland after months of delays.
UNISON Scotland, together with other NHS unions, submitted its pay claim in February and says health workers are disappointed the Scottish government has taken so long to respond.
In the past few weeks, health workers belonging to UNISON have sent more than 15,000 letters to MSPs calling for the Scottish government to open pay talks.
UNISON Scotland lead organiser for health Matt McLaughlinsaid: “Despite submitting a pay claim at the beginning of the year, the Scottish government has dragged its heels and taken months to get around the table.
“NHS staff are rightly frustrated they’ve been left struggling with rising living costs while their calls for a fair pay rise are ignored.
“Health workers are the glue that holds the NHS together and the government has to recognise their hard work by putting NHS pay right.”
Low-paid workers across the country will receive a pay increase this weekend as all rates of the National Minimum Wage rise.
The National Living Wage (NLW) increases on Saturday 1 April by 9.7 per cent to £10.42, providing a pay rise to millions of workers aged 23 and over across the UK. 21-22 year olds will see their pay increase by 10.9 per cent to £10.18 per hour while pay for younger workers and apprentices will also rise by 9.7 per cent.
NMW rate
Annual increase (£)
Annual increase (per cent)
National Living Wage (23+)
£10.42
0.92
9.7
21-22 Year Old Rate
£10.18
1.00
10.9
18-20 Year Old Rate
£7.49
0.66
9.7
16-17 Year Old Rate
£5.28
0.47
9.7
Apprentice Rate
£5.28
0.47
9.7
Accommodation Offset
£9.10
0.40
4.6
These increases follow recommendations made to the Government by the Low Pay Commission (LPC) in the autumn.
The NLW increase means another significant step towards reaching the Government’s target of two-thirds of median earnings by 2024. The increase is also expected to boost the real value of the NLW, restoring most of the real value lost since April 2021.
The LPC is now consulting on National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for April 2024 and beyond and will make its recommendations to the Government in October.
The consultation will run from 23 March to 9 June 2023. For more information, including how to submit responses, click here.
Bryan Sanderson, Chair of the Low Pay Commission, said: “From April, millions of workers will benefit from these increases to the NMW and NLW. Despite turbulent economic conditions, the labour market has remained strong and unemployment is low.
“We remain confident that this increase is unlikely to have a detrimental impact. Indeed, the high levels of inflation are felt more acutely by those on low pay who spend a higher proportion of their income on energy and food.
“The new NLW rate keeps us on track to reach the Government’s target of two-thirds of median earnings by 2024. We estimate the NLW will need to rise next year to between £10.90 and £11.43 to meet this target. We also remain committed to lowering the NLW age threshold to 21 years of age in 2024.
“In our consultation this year we are also looking beyond 2024, and inviting evidence and views on the future of minimum wage policy once the two-thirds target is achieved. The NMW is a central feature of the UK labour market and workers and employers alike will want to contribute to the debate about its future.”
The LPC has published a short report which looks ahead at what the new rates will mean, and sets out an updated path of the NLW to its target of two-thirds of median hourly earnings by 2024.
Estimating the forward path of the NLW is very challenging as earnings growth is difficult to measure and predict in the current economic climate. Our central estimate of the on-course rate of the NLW for 2024 is £11.16, within a range of £10.90 to £11.43.
Virtually every state Secondary school in Scotland closed yesterday teachers continue to strike in pursuit of a fair pay settlement.
Following Tueday’s highly successful strike in the primary sector, Secondary teachers and associated professionals turned out in huge numbers on picket lines and at demonstrations and rallies right across Scotland.
Amongst the demonstrations yesterday was a rally of teachers outside Bute House in Edinburgh, the official residence of the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Commenting on Wednesday’s strike action, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “Following Tuesday’s show of strength from primary teachers, today it is Scotland’s secondary teachers and associated professionals who are on strike and demanding that the Scottish Government and COSLA pay attention.
“Teachers really do not want to be out in the streets – in the cold, wind and rain – to seek a fair pay increase, but have been forced into this position by the inaction of the Scottish Government and COSLA on teacher pay.
“After dragging the negotiating process out for the best part of a year, the Scottish Government and COSLA only have themselves to blame for the situation we find ourselves in today.”
Ms Bradley added, “For six months, we have seen little or no progress in negotiations, with the Scottish Government and COSLA only reheating an old, already rejected offer, and attempting to sell it to teachers as new, fresh and appealing.
“Scotland’s teachers haven’t been fooled by the spin, and are now taking the only option that remains – the withdrawal of their labour – to seek a better, fairer offer on pay.
“It is only within the last week, with the second round of strike action looming, that we have seen some small signs that the Scottish Government and COSLA are prepared to work towards making an improved offer.
“Should a new, improved and credible, offer arrive in sufficient time, this will be considered by the EIS and our sister teacher unions in the hope that further strike action, scheduled to commence next week for 16 consecutive days, may yet be avoided.”
This winter we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of workers taking industrial action – or striking – to defend their pay and conditions (writes TUC’s Alex Collinson).
These are individual disputes, and it’s important to understand the details in different workplaces. But there is a common cause: a pay disaster that means workers are being paid less in real terms now than they were 14 years ago.
First things first – what’s a strike?
Trade unions exist to defend their members’ jobs, pay and conditions. Normally they try to do that through negotiations with employers, through a process called collective bargaining. But when those negotiations break down, workers have the right to collectively withdraw their labour to help bring the employer back to the bargaining table.
In Britain, the right to strike is governed by complex and restrictive industrial action laws. In summary, to count as ‘protected industrial action’, a strike must:
relate to a work dispute with your own employer
be supported by a valid secret postal ballot with independent scrutiny, in which at least of half the balloted workers have voted (in other words, “not voting” counts as a vote against the strike)
be carried out with notice
In addition, since the Tories’ 2016 Trade Union Act strikes involving workers who provide what the government calls an “important public service” can only be lawful if at least 40% of the workers balloted over the action vote in favour of it.
How much has strike activity increased?
The number of strikes has been on the rise in recent months. The latest data shows that the 417,000 days were lost due to strike action in October 2022, the highest it’s been in 11 years. Some are estimating that this December will see over a million days lost to strike action for the first time since 1989.
But it’s important to put the recent rise in strike action into context. While the number of days lost due to strike action is relatively high compared to the past couple of decades, they’d be fairly standard in any decade before the 1990s.
If more than one million working days are lost due to strikes in December, it’ll be the first time it’s happened since July 1989. But between 1970 and 1989, there were 47 months when this happened. And the 417,000 days lost due to strike action in October 2022 may be the fifth highest on record since 1990, but we regularly saw far higher figures pre-1990.
So what’s behind the rise?
Each individual strike will have different reasons behind it, but there’s some common factors behind the recent rise.
Work has been getting worse for many – lower paid, worse conditions, increasingly insecure. At the same time as workers have seen pay and conditions get worse, businesses have been giving more and more money to shareholders, with dividends paid out to shareholders growing three times faster than wages over the past decade.
And the government has been refusing to properly fund pay rises for public sector workers, failing to introduce a proper minimum wage, and attacking trade union rights, and failing to introduce a proper minimum wage.
The government’s minimum wage remains below the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation, and, even with next year’s rise, will be £4.58 below a £15 per hour minimum wage.
Pay
We’ll start with pay. Average real pay (that’s wages once you take inflation into account) is lower now than it was in 2008. It’s not expected to go back above 2008 levels until 2027. This 19-year pay squeeze is longer than any pay squeeze we have official records for, and likely the longest since Napoleonic times.
If wages had grown in line with pre-2008 trends over the past fourteen years, they’d now be £291 per week higher than they currently are.
Over a decade of stagnant pay has directly contributed to the current crisis, leaving many people unable to cope with a sudden rise in prices. While the cost of living crisis is often presented as a recent problem, it’s been building for years.
The situation was already dire before energy bills began to rise. As we went into the pandemic, the number of people in poverty was at a record high, with the majority of those in poverty living in a working household.
The recent rise in prices has made the situation even worse. After years of stagnant pay, workers are now facing double-digit inflation while being offered single-digit pay rises. The latest data shows that, in October, nominal pay rose by 6.4 per cent, while inflation hit 11.1 per cent. Real pay has fallen by £111 per month in the past year alone.
This is particularly bad in the public sector, where pay is rising by just 3.8 per cent, and average real pay has fallen by £185 per month in the past year.
Weak pay growth in the public sector is down to the government refusing to give proper pay rises to workers that kept the country running during the pandemic. Look at health workers, for example. TUC analysis of NHS pay scales shows that:
Nurses’ real pay fell by £1,800 over the last year
Paramedics’ real pay fell by £2,400 over the last year
Midwives’ real pay fell by £2,400 over the last year
This is after a decade of pay suppression by government that has led to nurses earning £5,000 a year less in real terms than they were in 2010. For midwives and paramedics this rises to over £6,000.
Working conditions and job losses
But it’s not just about pay. Many of the current strikes happening aren’t just about getting pay rising, but also protecting jobs, fighting against worsening working conditions, and putting an end to insecure contracts and outsourcing.
Fighting for pay itself is often a fight to improve working conditions. Better pay helps with recruitment and retention of staff.
It’s a political choice
The government spent months clapping for key workers, but now refuses to give them a fair pay rise. This is a political choice. The government could avoid, for example, rail workers, nurses, teachers, paramedics striking by getting around the negotiating table and offering a decent, fair pay rise.
Instead, it continues to offer real pay cuts to public sector workers, often hiding behind pay review bodies while it does. And when it comes to rail workers, the government is actively blocking deals being made. This is all part of wider cuts to public services that have left them understaffed and underfunded.
The government doesn’t agree pay deals in the private sector, but it can set a positive example to employers by offering decent pay rises. It also has the power to deliver increases to the minimum wage that get it to £15 an hour.
But instead, the government has repeatedly attacked trade union rights, making it harder to strike and therefore harder to negotiate for better pay.
Workers are winning
There’s another reason behind the rise in the number of people gaining confidence to take action: workers are winning. People are winning better pay deals and working conditions by joining together and standing up for themselves. Striking workers have won themselves double-digit pay rises across a range of different jobs, from bus drivers to BT engineers, as well as better conditions and an end to outsourcing.
If you aren’t in a union yet, there’s never been a better time to join – talk to your mates and talk to a union. And to learn more on how the TUC is supporting union disputes, see our solidarity hub here.
Commenting on Tuesday’s labour market figures published by the ONS, which show real wages falling by 4.1 per cent (on CPI measure) as the cost of living crisis intensifies, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone who works deserves financial security.
“But with the Bank of England predicting the worst decline in real pay for 100 years, energy bills soaring and a recession on the horizon, millions of working families are worried they won’t be able to keep their heads above water this winter.
“We need action from ministers now. They should cancel the increase to the energy price cap. And they must do far more to get pay rising – starting with boosting the minimum wage this autumn and giving public sector workers a decent pay rise.”
Zero-hours contracts
Commenting on the latest data on zero-hours contracts also published by the ONS yesterday, which show more than one million people are employed on these terms, Frances added: ““The government promised a high skill, high wage economy.
“But too many workers are stuck on insecure contracts that give them and their families no security. As the cost of living crisis escalates, the case for banning hated zero-hours contracts is stronger than ever.”
In Edinburgh, men are paid 14.2% more than women – well above the Scottish average gender pay gap of 10.2%
East Dunbartonshire has the biggest gender pay gap in Scotland, with men being paid 26.9% more than women
Aberdeenshire is Scotland’s second worst area for gender pay gaps, with men enjoying 22.1% more pay than women
Edinburgh’s gender pay gap is well above the Scottish average, new research can reveal.
In Edinburgh, men are paid 14.2% more than women. The Scotland average gender pay gap is 10.2%
Following International Women’s Day, financial experts Forbes Advisor used new ONS data to explore the gender pay gap for full time employees in every local authority in Scotland to discover which areas have the worst gender pay gap of all.
RANKED: Gender pay gaps in Scotland from biggest to smallest
Scotland area
Rank
How much more men earn than women (%)
East Dunbartonshire
1
26.9
Aberdeenshire
2
22.1
Inverclyde
3
20.1
Renfrewshire
4
18.6
Aberdeen City
5
17.9
Moray
6
17.1
Perth and Kinross
7
16.9
Na h-Eileanan Siar
8
15.8
South Ayrshire
9
15.5
Clackmannanshire
10
15.0
City of Edinburgh
11
14.2
Argyll and Bute
12
13.6
East Lothian
13
13.6
Dundee City
14
11.6
Falkirk
15
11.0
Glasgow City
16
10.7
North Lanarkshire
17
8.8
East Ayrshire
18
7.7
Midlothian
19
4.9
Fife
20
3.4
South Lanarkshire
21
3.3
West Lothian
22
3.1
Scottish Borders
23
2.3
Angus
24
2.2
Stirling
25
1.6
Highland
26
0.9
North Ayrshire
27
-4.6
Dumfries and Galloway
28
-7.0
Scotland average
10.2
East Dunbartonshire has the biggest gender pay gap in Scotland. In East Dunbartonshire, men are paid 26.9% more than women – well over double Scotland’s average gender pay gap (10.2%).
Aberdeenshire has the second biggest pay gap in Scotland, with men earning 22.1% more than women – twice the Scottish average gender pay gap of 10.2%. Inverclyde has Scotland’s third biggest pay gap, with men raking in 20% more in wages than women.
Renfrewshire, Aberdeen City and Moray are also some of Scotland’s worst areas for gender pay gaps, with men earning 18.6%, 17.9% and 17.1% more than women respectively.
At the other end of the scale, Dumfries and Galloway and North Ayrshire in Scotland are the only areas in the country where women earn more than men. In Dumfries and Galloway, women earn 7% more than men, and in North Ayrshire, women earn 4.6% more than men.
The Scottish Highlands, Stirling and Angus also have smaller gender pay gaps than the rest of Scotland. In the Scottish Highlands, men earn 0.9% more than women, and in Stirling and Angus, they earn 1.6% and 2.2% more than women respectively.
A spokesperson for Forbes Advisor commented on the findings: “These figures shed light on the concerning gender inequality which still persists in Scotland.
“It’s not enough to tweet about gender equality in the wake of International Women’s Day, we all have a responsibility to ensure that everyone is equally compensated for their labour.
“Not only do men earn 10.2% more than women across Scotland as a whole, but in local authorities such as East Dunbartonshire, men are earning up to 26.9% more than women, which shows that we have a long way to go before achieving fair pay.”
130% rise in working claimants during the pandemic
Low-income workers facing “perfect storm” this spring unless ministers improve “woefully inadequate” levels of support, warns union body
Cost-of-living crisis already depressing value of UC, TUC analysis reveals
*NEW POLL* shows many families already struggling to make ends meet
The TUC has warned that millions of low-income workers face a “perfect storm” this April with universal credit (UC) falling behind the cost of living as energy bills and taxes rise.
The warning comes as new TUC analysis reveals that the number of workers on UC has increased by 1.3 million since the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The analysis of official statistics shows that over 2.3 million workers were in receipt of UC at the end of 2021, compared to just over one million on the eve of the pandemic in February 2020.
This represents an increase of 130 per cent over the last two years and means 1 in 14 (7.2 per cent) working adults now claim UC.
The TUC says the huge rise in UC recipients has been driven by working households being pushed into financial hardship during Covid, with millions facing a cost-of-living crunch this year.
Basic value of universal credit now lower than at start of pandemic
The TUC says that the basic value of UC is now lower than at the start of the pandemic as a result of UC not keeping up with inflation.
TUC estimates show that the value of UC has fallen by £12 a month in real terms when measured against CPI inflation and £21 a month when measured against RPI inflation compared to just before the pandemic (February 2020).
The TUC says this trend will only get worse in the months ahead with inflation forecast to rise further.
Struggling to cover the basics
The TUC warns that millions of low-paid families face a crunch point in April when energy bills and national insurance contributions go up – at the same time as UC continues to fall in value.
New polling – carried out for the union body before last week’s energy cap announcement and Bank of England forecasts – shows that many are already struggling to make ends meet:
One in eight workers (12 per cent) say they will struggle to afford the basics in the next six months. And a fifth of working people (22 per cent) say they’ll struggle to afford more than the basics.
Low-paid workers are more likely to be struggling. One in six (17 per cent) low-paid workers (those earning less than £15,000 a year) say they will struggle to afford basics in the next six months, and three in 10 (29 per cent) say they’ll struggle to afford more than the basics.
Parents of young children, disabled workers, key workers and BME workers are more likely to be struggling:
Nearly one in five families (18 per cent) with kids under 11 will struggle to afford the basics
Over one in five (21 per cent) disabled workers will struggle to afford the basics, compared to 10 per cent of non-disabled workers
14 per cent of key workers say they’ll struggle to afford the basics in the next six months, compared to 10 per cent of non-key workers
14 per cent of BME workers say they’ll struggle to afford the basics in the next six months, compared to 11 per cent of white workers
The poll also reveals that a fifth of workers (21 per cent) say they have Christmas debts to pay off this year – a number that rises to over a quarter (28 per cent) for workers with children of school age.
Better support needed
The TUC says the government must do far more to help struggling households to get through the months ahead.
The union body says the cost-of-living support announced by the Chancellor on Thursday is “woefully inadequate” and will provide families with just £7 extra a week – most of which will have to be repaid.
The TUC is also calling for UK Government to use the upcoming spring budget to:
Increase to UC to 80 per cent of the real Living Wage.
Introduce a windfall tax on energy companies, using the money to reduce household energy bills
Boost the minimum wage to least £10 an hour now
Work with unions to get pay rising across the economy
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Millions of low-paid workers face a perfect storm this April.
“At the same time as energy prices and national insurance contributions shoot up, universal credit is falling in value.
“The government must do far more to help struggling families get through the tough times ahead. The support package announced by the Chancellor last week is woefully inadequate.
“Universal credit urgently needs boosting and we need further action to reduce fuel costs for those battling to make ends meet.
“Oil and energy companies shouldn’t be making bumper profits, while many struggle to heat their homes.
“If ministers fail to do what is necessary, more households will be pushed below the breadline.”
On the need to boost pay, Frances added: “The best way to give working families long-term financial security is to get pay rising across the economy.
“That means increasing the minimum wage to at least £10 an hour now, and ministers requiring employers to negotiate sector-wide fair pay agreements with unions.”
With the role of the Councillor changing dramatically over the last few years, the time is right to review the job – and its pay, COSLA said this week.
COSLA President Councillor Alison Evison says there has to be a ‘realistic’ review of remuneration for the role, and called for the Scottish Government to look at Councillors’ salaries.
The current offering of £18,604 per year simply ‘does not cut the mustard,’ said Councillor Evison, especially given Councillors work on average, 38.5 hours per week according to our research.
COSLA is now calling for Councillors to be paid the Real Living Wage, as a minimum.
“In less than five months, on May 5, Scotland once again goes to the polls to elect the representatives who are the closest to their communities – their local Councillors.
“The Survey we are releasing today is a pivotal opportunity to think about the kind of modern Councillor we want, and about the changes that we need to make to attract candidates who could make a real difference to communities across the country.
“Together with my elected member colleagues, I already passionately believe in local democracy as a real positive force for good within our communities – that is why we stand for election. However to meet the next challenge we need realistic and proper remuneration that better reflects the role of a modern day Councillor.
“All of us within Scottish Local Government want to harness the power of a more locally democratic way of doing things, to enable a more diverse range of voices at the decision-making table, and to overhaul participation in council policy-making across the country – but people need to be properly remunerated to make this rhetoric a reality.”
Councillor Evison continued: “The current salary for a councillor is £18,604 and that quite frankly does not cut the mustard.
“A survey undertaken by COSLA as part of removing barriers to elected office work clearly shows that councillors from all political parties and none feel that the time has arrived for this new, radical and bold approach to Councillors’ remuneration as part of a wider package of action to increase Councillor diversity and address financial barriers to elected office for underrepresented groups.
“We are excited about what can be achieved, but we know that to attract a more diverse range of people to the role of the modern Councillor simply will not happen without a commitment from Scottish Government to look at Councillor remuneration.
“We are not asking for anything too bold, our starting point is that as a minimum, Councillors should be paid the Real Living Wage for hours worked.
“There would rightly be uproar if Councils did not pay their employees the Real Living Wage – therefore why not Councillors, who according to our survey findings work 38.5 hours per week?
“The Real Living Wage would still only put Councillors in the same bracket as the Care/Retail and Hospitality Sectors.”
Companies providing professional, scientific and technical services have seen an increase in wages of 11.4% from January 2020 to July 2021
Businesses in the Arts, Entertainment and recreation sector have seen the second highest increase of 10.84%
Accommodation and Food Services have seen the lowest increase, at just 0.75%
Professional, scientific and technical services – including financial management, scientific research and development and agricultural – have received the UK’s highest increase in average wage since the pandemic began, a new study shows.
Comparing ONS average wage figures from January 2020 with those from July of this year, research from leading software developers Bacancy Technology reveals that the average salary for those working in professional, scientific and technical services has gone up by 11.4% – the highest increase across industries in the UK. Overall, this sector’s monthly pay packet of £2,270 per month in Jan 2020 has increased to £2,529 in July of this year.
Roles within the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector have seen the second highest average wage increase, going up by 10.8%. The industry’s average has gone from £1,255 in January of 2020 to £1,391 in 2021 – a growth of £136.
Though positions within Finance and insurance saw the third highest percentage increase in wages of 10.6%, the sector saw the highest raw average financial increase from last January to this July, of £308. Average wages in this sector increased from £2,883 to £3,191 per month.
At the other end of the spectrum, employees within Accommodation and Food Services ranked with the lowest wage growth, both in percentage and raw financial increase – seeing an average increase of less than 1% – just £8 per month.
Construction services have also seen slow growth over the lockdown period, placing the second lowest in the table with an average increase of just 1% – an additional £23 per month to their pay checks.
Assessing these findings, a spokesperson for N.Rich commented: “This breakdown shows a number of interesting facts surrounding the UK’s most lucrative industries for personal financial growth over time. The rising demand for financial guidance, agricultural suppliers and medical research and development over lockdown has clearly impacted the wages received by the employees of these businesses.”
The study was conducted by N.Rich, which offers a rich array of intent data and ad inventory that enable marketers to drive awareness and lead generation effectively.
UK industry average wage increases – January 2020 to July 2021
Sector
Avg. wage in GBP (Jan ’20)
Avg. wage in GBP (Jul ’21)
Increase in GBP from Jan ’20 to July ’21
Raw financial increase rank
Percentage increase from Jan ’20 to July ’21
Percentage increase rank
Finance and insurance
2,883
3,191
308
1
10.68
3
Information and communication
2,836
3,129
293
2
10.33
4
Professional, scientific and technical
2,270
2,529
259
3
11.41
1
Arts, entertainment and recreation
1,255
1,391
136
4
10.84
2
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
1,668
1,803
135
5
8.09
5
Energy production and supply
3,228
3,358
130
6
4.03
15
Administrative and support services
1,580
1,707
127
7
8.04
6
Health and social work
1,768
1,895
127
8
7.18
8
Extraterritorial
2,796
2,920
124
9
4.43
14
Education
1,891
2,013
122
10
6.45
9
Real estate
1,995
2,104
109
11
5.46
12
Manufacturing
2,298
2,402
104
12
4.53
13
Other service activities
1,360
1,461
101
13
7.43
7
Transportation and storage
2,254
2,344
90
14
3.99
16
Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles
1,476
1,557
81
15
5.49
11
Mining and quarrying
3,870
3,939
69
16
1.78
19
Water supply, sewerage and waste
2,457
2,517
60
17
2.44
17
Public administration and defence; social security
“The current situation is not sustainable; it is dangerous for patients and becoming incredibly difficult for staff.” – Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland
A substantial new investment of over £300 million in hospital and community care has been unveiled to help tackle what is anticipated to be the toughest winter the NHS and social care system has ever faced.
The new multi-year funding will support a range of measures to maximise capacity in our hospitals and primary care, reduce delayed discharges, improve pay for social care staff, and ensure those in the community who need support receive effective and responsive care.
The NHS and Care Winter Package of additional funding includes:
Recruiting 1,000 additional NHS staff to support multi-disciplinary working
£40 million for ‘step-down’ care to enable hospital patients to temporarily enter care homes, or receive additional care at home support, with no financial liability to the individual or their family towards the cost of the care home
Over £60 million to maximise the capacity of care at home services
Up to £48 million will be made available to increase the hourly rate of social care staff to match new NHS band 2 staff
£20 million to enhance Multi-Disciplinary Teams, enable more social work assessments to be carried out and support joint working between health and social care
£28 million of additional funding to support primary care
£4.5 million available to Health Boards to attract at least 200 registered nurses from outwith Scotland by March 2022
£4 million to help staff with their practical and emotional needs, including pastoral care and other measures to aid rest and recuperation
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “As the winter period approaches, it is vital that we do all we can to maximise the capacity of the NHS and social care system. That’s why I’m setting out our £300 million NHS and Care Winter Package today.
“We cannot look at the NHS in isolation we must take a whole systems approach and these measures will help alleviate pressure across the NHS and social care.
“This significant new investment will help get people the care they need as quickly as possible this winter. Bolstering the caring workforce by increasing their numbers, providing them with additional support, and increasing the wages of social care staff.
“We’ve previously provided funding to ensure that adult social care staff are paid at least the real living wage. Today we’re going further and our new investment will ensure that adult social care staff who are currently paid the real living wage will get a pay rise of over 5%
“Measures I have announced today will help patients whose discharge has been delayed waiting for care and help get them out of hospital and on to the next stage in their care. This helps the individual by getting them the right care, and helps the wider system by ensuring the hospital capacity is being used by those who need that specialist level of clinical care.
“This £300 million of new funding will also fund increases in social care capacity in the community and in primary care – helping to ease the pressure on unpaid carers.
“Our NHS, social care staff and social work staff have been remarkable throughout the pandemic and today’s additional investment will help support them to deliver care to people across Scotland this winter.”
Meanwhile,the latest Emergency Department performance figures for Scotland published by the Scottish Governmentyesterday for August 2021 show that four-hour performance has deteriorated for the fourth consecutive month, again reaching a record low – while the number of patients staying in a major Emergency Department for 12-hours or more reaches a record high.
In August 2021 there were 117,552 attendances to major Emergency Departments across Scotland.
Data show that four-hour performance reached a new record low, with 75.4% of patients being seen within four-hours. One in four patients stayed in a major Emergency Department for four-hours or more before being admitted, transferred or discharged.
The number of 12-hour stays in August 2021 nearly doubled when compared to July 2021. 1,346 patients stayed in a major Emergency Department for 12-hours or more, compared to 760 in July 2021. This figure increased for the fourth consecutive month and it is the highest number of 12-hour stays since records began.
Data also show that 5,279 patients spent eight hours or more in a major Emergency Department. This is the highest figure since records began. The number of patients delayed by eight-hours or more increased for the fourth consecutive month.
Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said: “The challenge for health care workers is growing significantly. In Scotland, the army have been called in to assist the ambulance services.
“In Emergency Departments, long stays are rising drastically, and one in four patients are staying in an Emergency Department for more than four-hours. It is extremely worrying. These pressures are likely to mount further, and performance deteriorate even more as we head into winter.
“We are seriously concerned about patient safety. Long stays put patients at risk, particularly vulnerable patients, and especially with covid still present in the community. We urgently need a plan to increase flow throughout the hospital, to reduce exit block, to prevent crowding, and to ensure that patients who need it can quickly be moved into a bed for their care.
“The current situation is not sustainable; it is dangerous for patients and becoming incredibly difficult for staff.
“We welcome this afternoon’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf MSP, including the recruitment of more staff and funding for hospital and community care. We hope that these measures will begin to alleviate pressures across the health system, and in particular reduce ambulance handover delays, long stays in Emergency Departments and exit block in our hospitals.
“However, while we welcome this investment, short-term cash injections do little to resolve long-term problems. We must see a long-term workforce plan that includes measures to retain health workers, particularly Emergency Medicine staff, as well as a long-term strategy for social care.”
Responding to the Scottish Government’s announcement to uplift care workers pay to just over £10 an hour, GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said:“If we want to tackle the understaffing crisis in social care then we need to substantially increase the basic rate of pay, and for GMB that mean’s a £15 an hour minimum.
“Many of our frontline services are already being delivered on the back of wages of just under or over £10 an hour, and we know this isn’t nearly enough.
“To transform social care for the people who need it and the people who deliver it, particularly as we roll-out a national care service, then we must go further.”
The Scottish Government may also be facing industrial action from nursing staff over the winter …
NHS pay dispute in Scotland: Royal College of Nursing members to be asked about willingness to take industrial action
RCN members working for NHS Scotland are to be asked what industrial action they would be willing to take in support of their ongoing trade dispute with the Scottish government and NHS employers over pay.
The indicative ballot will open on 12 October and close on 8 November.
Eligible members will receive information on the different forms of industrial action.
The indicative ballot will be run by Civica, the independent scrutineer that organised the consultative ballot earlier this year. Eligible members will receive an email from Civica with a personal link to the online voting site on Tuesday 12 October. Weekly reminder emails will also be sent.
The result of the indicative ballot will not formally authorise industrial action. It will be used to inform the next steps RCN members might take.
Julie Lamberth, Chair of the RCN Scotland Board, said: “Industrial action is always a last resort but the current staffing challenges are causing unacceptable risks to patients and staff. The Scottish government has the opportunity to do the right thing by nursing.
“I would urge all eligible RCN members to seek out the available information on what taking industrial action means and what the implications of doing so might be. We need each member to make up their own mind and have their say in the ballot.”
Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, added: “This is your chance to speak up – for your patients and your colleagues. Many of you rejected the pay offer and you know the link between fair pay and safe staffing.
“This is your opportunity to tell us what action you are prepared to take. To let the Scottish government know that the time to protect patient safety and value the safety critical role of nursing is now.”
