- Exclusion sparks judicial review
- Outsourced health workers’ plight
- Pay disparity in NHS
A potential consequence of the government’s decision to exclude certain health workers from a one-time incentive is the possibility of judicial review.
It was addressed in a pay agreement for over one million NHS employees in England this year and reflected the staff’s heightened workload caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has been deemed an “injustice” that thousands of outsourced employees, including physiotherapists and community nurses, will not receive it.
The government stated that its position was under consideration.
A Surrey-based physiotherapist who provides services in clinics, NHS hospitals, and private residences was “utterly disheartened” upon learning that she would not be compensated.
“At the height of the pandemic, our team laboured ceaselessly, treating patients in the community in an effort to divert them from the hospital so as to spare those hospitals that were already overburdened with additional admissions.” “We laboured ceaselessly,” Julie Tollit remarked.
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Ms. Tollit was ineligible for the £1,655 to £3,789 payments because she was not an NHS employee. Instead, they work for non-profits, including social entrepreneurs, which provide one-third of NHS community health services.
England’s Department of Health and Social Care estimates 20,000 health workers in such services.
More than 10,000 of these employees are represented by the industry organisation Social Enterprise UK. Which announced that it had initiated the application process for judicial review of the “completely unfair” arrangement.
Peter Holbrook, the NHS’s chief executive officer, described social enterprises as “vital members of the NHS family”. Because they reinvest profits into communities and employ thousands of people.
“A slap to the face”
A considerable number of the healthcare professionals advocated for by Mr. Holbrook, Ms. Tollit among them, were formerly employed by the NHS prior to their transfer to independent providers in an effort to outsource certain services.
Ms. Tollit is employed under identical terms and conditions as those performing identical work for the NHS directly.
She explained, “I am employed by Central Surrey Health to work for the NHS. All of my patients are NHS and regard me as such.”
“My efforts apparently do not register. It’s essentially a smack in the face.”
More than one million NHS employees in England were granted a 5% pay increase by the government earlier this year. As stated, it was agreed upon during negotiations that the additional incentive would not be granted to outsourced personnel.
A government spokesperson also stated, “We hold the efforts of all our healthcare staff in the highest regard” and that the organization was “considering its position” regarding payments for non-NHS personnel.
Certain healthcare personnel employed by “bank” organizations, which are considered “non-statutory” and also include personnel in nursing homes and GP services, have also been excluded from receiving the lump sum payments.
Distinctive compensation agreements were reached for personnel employed by the NHS in Scotland and Wales.
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