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Basildon Hospital nurses are set to receive a massive pay cut which will effect how they 'support their families'.

The nurses, who spend at least 12 hours on their feet on each shift, were told of the huge wage reduction in an email during half term.

In a letter from NHS Professionals (NHSP) sent to staff it reveals that the pay rate for flexible workers within the Basildon and Thurrock University NHS Foundation Trust will see a pay cut of up to 25 per cent.

It comes after the Chief Nursing Officer announced the harmonisation of nursing temporary staffing arrangements across Mid Essex, Southend and Basildon hospitals.

The nurses were sent the notice on May 31, during spring half term, where a lot of staff were on annual leave or not working due to family and children commitments, claims one worker.

The letter, sent exclusively to Essex Live anonymously, told the hardworking staff the rates are 'competitive and comparable' with other Trusts, before detailing that their wages for bank shifts will decrease.

The new system will see existing day rates go from £17.50 to £14.08, night rates and Saturdays from £22.29 to £16.72 and then Sunday and Bank Holiday rates will decrease from £26.14 to £20.43.

One nurse, who wishes to remain anonymous, has spoken out about how it'll affect staff supporting their children.

"It's how we stay afloat each month"

(Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

They said: "It is naive to believe that we undertake these overtime (‘bank’ ) shifts in order to get a little pay boost to treat ourselves - in reality bank pay is how many nurses manage to stay afloat with their finances each month.

"Our wages have increased so little over the past 10 years that with inflation considered nurses have been steadily becoming less financially comfortable year on year.

"Many of us are having to take on one or two extra shifts each week through NHSP in order to sustain a normal family life or even support children.

"This increases our hours potentially to 62.5 hours per week. The hospitals decision to support NHSP’s proposed pay harmonisation shows a severe lack of consideration to the circumstances of us, their own staff."

This nurse spends more than 12 hours on their feet to care for eight to ten very sick patients, as well as caring for and communicating their families that come along with them.

They added that they rarely have time to take the one hour break which is already deducted from their pay - whether they actually get a rest or not.

"The new NHSP pay rates, for me, are not enough to tempt me into spending any more hours of my time in the hospital which supports pay cuts for their staff," they added.

"This would mean me taking my skills specialist to that area, into other hospitals via an agency which will pay higher, in order for me to meet level of pay which I have currently been receiving."

The Basildon worker then said: "Myself and many other nurses have, until now, felt loyal to Basildon hospital, but that loyalty has not been returned in their acceptance of cutting our bank pay rates by up to 25%.

"Ultimately this shows a basic lack of value for what it is the nurses at Basildon hospital personally sacrifice to keep the hospital safety staffed."

The NSHP stated the reasoning behind the pay cuts were to:

Improve equity of pay levels within and across Mid Essex, Southend and Basildon hospitals

Improve equity of pay levels between our equally valued substantive and bank nurses and midwives

Recognise the contribution of substantive Registered Nursing and Midwifery staff working additional bank hours, to improve care for our patients and conditions for colleagues

Stop competition between Mid Essex, Southend and Basildon hospitals for the same pool of Registered Nurses and Midwives

The nurses were told that their new wages would be in force on July 1, 2019, just one month after being hit with the news.

They also featured 'drop-in' discussion sessions where NHS staff could ask questions about the harmonisation, but these were only scheduled for the following six days after the initial email. This means that nurses on annual leave for half term or on rest days wouldn't have had the chance to attend them.

Basildon Hospital confirms the wage decrease

A Basildon Hospital spokesperson confirmed the pay cuts.

They said in a statement: “As we work towards becoming a single NHS organisation, we are reviewing our nursing staff bank rates across our hospital group. This has resulted in a change to Basildon bank hourly rates in general nursing areas from April 1, 2019.

"This is vital so that each one of our hospitals offer the same opportunities for staff who want to work bank shifts.

“Essentially, the changes are intended to ensure our nursing and midwifery staff are paid the same rates for doing the same job no matter which of our three hospital sites they work on.

"In order to harmonise rates there will be areas where the locally applied hourly rate of pay may go up and may come down.

“We continue to keep staff supported and regularly updated during this period of change.”

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