Nurses’ pay ‘on a par with London, but behind Jersey’
AN INDEPENDENT review of local nurses’ pay has recommended an above inflation salary rise, despite finding that nurses in Guernsey earn roughly 16% more than their UK counterparts outside of London.
The Royles review found that the local pay scales were in line with Inner London pay, where nurses receive a pay weighting, but significantly below the Jersey salaries.
In its recommendations on pay, the report suggests that on the surface nurses’ pay seems reasonable.
‘On the face of it, registered staff on Guernsey are well rewarded.
‘The headline grades are approximately 16% higher than the (UK/English) rates.
‘Tax is lower and there are additional bonuses for “loyalty” each year to all staff and an additional “hard to recruit” bonus payable after two and four years to some staff.
‘Some staff also receive a housing allowance, making the overall package reasonably attractive, for some staff at least.’
However, the report then goes on to say that while the pay system has the ‘good intent’ of attracting staff, it is ‘clearly not working’ and is ‘misaligned’.
Analysis of staff turnover between January 2017 and June 2018 showed that 16.2% of the workforce left, or 238 leavers.
Of the 238, most were younger staff in the lower pay bands, and the turnover rate was higher among non-residentially qualified staff.
The reviewers decided that comparison with the Jersey rates of pay was appropriate, because Jersey is a competitor for scarce labour in health and social care.
The Jersey entry level salary for a newly registered nurse was £39,175 in 2018, compared to £26,404 in Guernsey (not including bonuses).
Jersey nurses’ pay was something that came up frequently when the reviewers met with staff, along with Guernsey’s cost of living.
The reviewers decided that both were relevant to the setting of pay levels.
The first recommendation in the report is that the pay system should be overhauled because the current set up is ‘complex and poorly communicated and no longer fit for purpose’.
It suggests that the bonuses and other payments should be consolidated into the basic salary to give ‘better perceptions’ of the overall reward package and reduce ‘perceptions of inequity and inequality’.
