§ 2. Mr. Ernie Ross (Dundee, West)What steps he is taking to reform the pay system in the NHS. [106239]
§ The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Alan Milburn)We are negotiating with the NHS trade unions on a new pay system for the health service. In the meantime, we have offered non-review body staff an innovative three-year pay package, and we are implementing the recommendations from the doctors' and dentists' review body and the nurses' review body in full.
§ Mr. RossDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the joint statement published by the health departments, management, the unions and NHS staff-side organisations offers a way forward for the NHS after at least 18 years of attack from the last Government? Does he further agree, however, that the real tests of the proposals are whether they are an improvement on what we have now, whether they are easy to understand, whether they are easy to implement, whether they are fair to all staff groups and whether they deliver a genuinely improved service to patients?
Does my hon. Friend also agree that the proposals give all who are concerned with the health service an opportunity to move forward in a true spirit of partnership?
§ Mr. MilburnI certainly agree with my hon. Friend's sentiments. He is right in saying that too many of the employment and, indeed, pay structures of the NHS date back to its inception in 1948. Today's world is very different: different requirements are placed on the health service, and on NHS staff. It is important for us to combine fairness with flexibility in the way in which we employ doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, and that is precisely what our negotiations for a new pay system are designed to achieve.
§ Mr. Nick Harvey (North Devon)Given last week's report on NHS laboratories, which revealed that 60 per cent. were using unqualified staff, and given yesterday's news that two leukaemia patients in Wales had received each other's test results, what steps is the Secretary of State taking to address the problems and to reassure patients? Will he ensure that biomedical scientists are given a substantial pay increase, and bring them and all other professional and technical staff in the NHS under the remit of the review body? If he does that, will he address the fact that such staff have fallen 30 per cent.
889 behind the recommendations of the review body since it was formed, and will he submit evaluations to bring them up to a sensible level at the outset?
§ Mr. MilburnAs the hon. Gentleman knows, part of the negotiation on the new pay system is designed to reconfigure the coverage of review bodies. Some have argued, I think reasonably, that the groups covered by the two review bodies do not necessarily reflect the fact that team working is now crucial to a modern national health service. We are considering that, and are negotiating with the NHS trade unions to establish a common position. I think it far better to achieve results through partnership and agreement.
Extra money has been targeted at groups of staff such as medical laboratory scientific officers and cytology screeners who are not covered by the review bodies, where there was evidence of recruitment problems leading to a deterioration in services to patients. The high offers made to those staff for 1999–2000 still stand.
§ Mr. Phil Sawford (Kettering)Is my right hon. Friend aware that, partly owing to the recent pay settlement in the NHS, the Northamptonshire health authority currently projects a deficit of £8.7 million for next year? I know that Northamptonshire has received a great deal more money, but the chair of the health authority is due to retire in April, and the chief executive will shortly move to another post. We face the prospect in Northamptonshire of having no chief executive, no chair and no money. Will my right hon. Friend look into that serious matter, which is of great concern to my constituents?
§ Mr. MilburnI do not know about the position as regards the chair of Northamptonshire health authority, or, indeed, the chief executive. Clearly, those are matters that we will have to address. On the question of there being no money, I am slightly surprised by my hon. Friend's view as Northamptonshire health authority and other health authorities have received a substantial growth in the amount of money that they will have for the next financial year, compared with the current financial year.
§ Mrs. Caroline Spelman (Meriden)Does the Secretary of State accept that not only is the 3.6 per cent. increase in nurses' pay well below average wage increases of 4.6 per cent. in the economy as a whole, but that the Government's failure to fund it fully amounts to giving with one hand and taking with the other?
§ Mr. MilburnI do not agree with that view. That view will come as a great surprise to nurses and doctors in the NHS, who, year after year, suffered from their pay being staged, rather than being paid in full.
§ Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle)May I ask a question about the pay of dentists? Why is it that the review body that reported a couple of weeks ago found it impossible to compute the average earnings of dentists who are employed wholly or mainly on NHS work because, it said, the necessary information was not forthcoming from my right hon. Friend's Department, or from the British Dental Association? Will he give me an assurance that next year, 890 when we get the next report from the pay review bodies, it will be possible for them to compute the average earnings of NHS dentists?
§ Mr. MilburnWe do have some figures available, as I think my hon. Friend is aware. He takes a great interest in dentists' salaries. We have some figures about the average earnings of dentists who have a reasonable commitment to the NHS. Those figures are widely available. As he is also aware, this year the Doctors and Dentists Remuneration Review Body recommended that we pay a further £20 million to dentists who have demonstrated a real commitment to the NHS. We will, of course, discuss with the profession how best to achieve that.