RCN welcomes move away from pay cartel by another South West NHS trust

Published: 26 March 2013

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) today (26 March) welcomed a statement made to staff by Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust (DHUFT) which says that they will not continue to engage in any future work of the pay cartel and that the trust intend to work in partnership with staff.

The pay cartel (the South West pay, terms and conditions consortium) was set up last year with the aim to implement local pay for NHS staff in the South West Region. The RCN has led a robust campaign opposing their plans.

DHUFT are the fifth NHS Trust to move away from the pay cartel, the fourth since the publication of the cartel’s report on 1 March 2013. Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Dorset County Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust each issued statements to their staff confirming that their involvement in the current work of the cartel has concluded and that they will not be involved with any future work of the pay cartel. The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Foundation Trust left the pay cartel in November last year.

Jeannett Martin, Regional Director of RCN South West, said:

“A quarter of those NHS Trusts who originally joined the pay cartel have now made a commitment to their staff that they will not re-engage with the work of the pay cartel in the future and that they will work in partnership with staff to meet the financial challenge.

“The RCN urges the remaining employers to follow the lead of these five trusts and confirm to their staff that they will not return to a local pay cartel if it re-emerges in future. This will be a first step in rebuilding staff trust and confidence.

“Regional pay systems are not only unfair for staff, they are costly and complicated to implement and this wasted money will ultimately damage patient care.”