Chatting with a nurse this morning (Tues 18/03) and we got talking about the 40% tax rate - nurse specialists working in the NHS attract a higher salary due to the level of expertise they bring to the role. This is nothing like the salary that they would be paid for example, in Australia where there would be a 25-40% premium on the wage paid here, which accounts in part for the NHS staff here flocking there everybody knows someone who's off.
When rostered to overtime on top of what may be quite habitually be a 4 day 12 hour shift nurses usually find that resultant extra wages push them into the 40% band - not a great incentive to extend already long hours. The OT roster is posted in the expectation that staff will want to do the hours and claim the OT they want by populating it in advance. As stated the existing long shifts and the 40% tax bracket are proving to be a disincentive to some nurses to do this. Now here's the silly bit if NHS nurses can't be rostered to do the OT guess who is called on to fill the places? Yep the jolly old private sector who will ship contract nurses to cover the shift. Although these nurses may have the relevant experience in the area in which he/she is specialist, they're not going to know the ward to which they are sent and may not be able to "hit the ground running". They will also cost a considerable amount more than paying overtime for the existing staff and we're talking A LOT.
The Gov/NHS seem to be shooting themselves in the foot on this one. Why not move the threshold for the 40% allowance or do something to incentivise the staff - tax credits for specialised skills in nursing, anything to help stem the brain drain.The NHS will save money on contract nurses and better reuse of existing highly trained staff - and at a squeak if they got really stuck , contract services could still be used, but as a last resort rather than pissing money away as the norm.
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| Not sure about that wallpaper mate. |
This is just one example of what must be thousands - a microcosm. Beats me why this beleaguered service has to tie itself in knots this way to satisfy the bean counters and middle management twats - and being an ex-middle management twat myself I've seen some fine examples of moving the deck chairs around on the Titanic to make the columns line up. Will be listening keenly this afternoon to see what "Anaglypta George" has to say.
Bizarre - the drugs must play havoc with blood pressure I've been running quite heavy at up to 150/100. Sat in a hot shower for half an hour today before having medical observations taken on morning rounds and it was down to 127/80 lower than when I used to do gym 3 times per week.
Playing a game of sit and wait at the moment need to see if my bloods show the CMV levels decreasing over the next couple of days. Otherwise I won't be getting out of here this week. Not stir crazy yet as I've been able to leave the room and get outside for a couple of walks but want to get home to the family quite badly now. Very aware though that to leave too early will undo all the progress made so far.
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