Nursing staff demoralised at OUH and Oxford Health

Published: 23 October 2012

The Royal College of Nursing has called the pay rise awarded to Health Directors a “kick in the teeth” for nursing staff.

This follows a long line of changes for nursing staff. Already in the middle of a nationwide pay freeze and changes to public sector pensions, nurses at Oxford University Hospitals Trust and Oxford Health Trust have been faced with changes including:

• Potential radical changes to shift patterns
• Possible reduction in staff numbers which will lead to significantly reduced hours in all Community Hospital wards if a Consultation goes ahead in its current format. 
• The withdrawal of the small £10 Christmas donation always given to staff towards their Christmas functions.
• The withdrawal of funds towards retirement functions unless you have served a minimum amount of time & long service awards removed.
• E-Rostering will affect many staff & their ability to request shifts unless they are successful with their Flexible working application.
• Removal of the Cost of Living Supplement for some (900) nurses

Patricia Marquis, South East Regional Director of the RCN says: “This could be the final nail in the coffin. Nurses across both Trusts are telling us how demoralised they are. It has been one change after another, one consultation after another. Something as small as losing their £10/nurse Christmas donation for staff functions can have a real knock on effect to team morale. To hear that the frontline workforce are having to make these sacrifices at a time of a national pay freeze and changes to pensions whilst managers get this payrise is a real kick in the teeth for nurses and quite frankly a grossly insensitive move by the Directors.”