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Call for local nurses' pay

22/01/2008

Nurses' pay should be decided at a local level as centralised pay reviews are harming patient care, according to a new report.

Research from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) and the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) says setting nurses' pay centrally with little local variation results in hospitals in high cost areas like London and the south-east struggling to recruit and retain staff.

As a consequence, the report says, these hospitals treat fewer patients and have higher fatality rates among patients admitted with emergency heart attacks.

CEP and CMPO argue that the gap between wages paid to a nurse in Newcastle and one in London is small compared to the comparable pay gap for people who are not nurses.

The researchers, Professor Carol Propper and Professor John Van Reenen, studied how centralised pay setting for nurses in the NHS affects hospital performance by tracking changes in the outside wage and changes in performance in over 100 English hospital trusts over a six-year period.

In London, where nurses' wages are lowest compared with those of their non-nurse counterparts, nurse vacancy rates are higher and fewer qualified nurses work in the NHS.

The study says this then affects the service for patients.

"It would be better if local public sector wages reflected local market conditions: higher in high cost areas, lower in low cost areas," said John Van Reenan.