§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the money value of the basic pay of a staff nurse; and what are the comparable figures for each of the last three years.
§ Dr. VaughanStaff Nurses in the National Health Service are paid on an incremental scale. The minimum and maximum of the scale currently in payment, that is, effective from 1 April 1981, are as follows, together with those for the scales paid from 1 April 1978 to 1 April 1980, inclusive. The figures for 1978 and 1979 relate to a 40-hour working week: those for 1980 and 1981 to a 37½-hour week. Various additional payments, including premium rates 'for conditioned hours worked at night, at weekends or on bank holidays, and a wide range of allowances were also increased in the same period.
128W
Nursing pay grade Maximum of basic pay scale at 1 April 1975 Maximum of basic pay scale in payment at March 1982 (ie with effect from 1 April 1981) Percentage movement 1975–1981 £ £ Regional Nursing Officer—R1 9,276 21,924 136 Area Nursing Officer—AT(1) 8,754 20,793 138 District Nursing Officer—DT 8,463 19,127 126 figures are available; and if he will include the number in each age group who have died from (i) all infectious disease and (ii) whooping cough.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe information requested is as follows:
Pay Scale Staff Nurse—SRN
Effective from: Minimum £
Maximum £
1 April 1978 2,776 3,385 1 April 1979 3,020 3,683 1 April 1980 4,198 *5,119 1 April 1981 4,450 *5,426 * 37½ hour week.
§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services by how much nurses' earnings would have to be increased in April 1982 to retain the real value of the earnings at the April 1975 level, assuming the level of inflation in the current year to be 12 per cent.
§ Dr. VaughanI regret that information about earnings is not available for the earliest years requested. The effects of pay settlements negotiated for nurses and midwives differ according to the particular grade of staff concerned. The table below shows, for a variety of nursing grades, the maximum of the basic salary scale in payment from 1 April 1975 and currently, that is, from 1 April 1981, and the cumulative effect of the pay settlements reached in the intervening years for each of the grades given. In addition, from 1980–81 nurses' working hours were reduced from 40 to 37½ per week, which is equivalent to a further 6½ per cent. increase in pay.
Percentage movements in the retail price indices—for all items recorded—over the relevant period (April 1975-April 1981) were 126: movements since 1 April 1981 (to 1 March 1982) were 9 per cent.
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Nursing pay grade Maximum of basic pay scale at 1 April 1975 Maximum of basic pay scale in payment at March 1982 (ie with effect from 1 April 1981) Percentage movement 1975–1981 £ £ Senior Nursing Officer I 4,416 8,462 92 Senior Nursing Officer II 4,242 8,148 92 Nursing Officer I 4,044 7,791 95 Nursing Officer II 3,894 7,551 94 Nursing Sister n 3,552 7,215 103 Deputy Nursing Sister 3,030 6,234 106 Staff Nurse 2,646 5,426 105 Enrolled Nurse 2,340 4,835 107 Nursing Auxiliary 1,947 4,017 106 Student—3rd year 1,740 3,593 107 Pupil—2nd year 1,641 3,428 109
§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was nurses' pay, expressed as a percentage of all earnings, in April 1975, April 1979 and April 1981.
§ Dr. VaughanThe information requested for the years 1975 or 1979 is not available centrally, nor is precise information about individual nurses' earnings. The following table sets out the average basic pay of nurses in
Average annual earnings* at 1 April 1981 Average basic pay at 1 April 1981 Average basic pay as percentage of average earnings Grade £ £ Regional Nursing Officer 21,073 As for average
earnings
100 Area Nursing Officer 18,389 District Nursing Officer 15,982 Regional Nurse 15,135 Area Nurse 13,182 Divisional Nursing Officer 11,016 Senior Nursing Officer 8,067 7,831 97 Nursing Officer I 7,664 7,234 94 Nursing Sister (Ward Sister) II 7,650 6,702 88 Staff Nurse—SRN 5,826 4,993 86 Enrolled Nurse 5,299 4,477 84 Nursing Auxiliary 4,477 3,729 83 Student Nurse 3,788 3,428 90 * i.e. Average basic pay plus average special duty and excess hours payments.
§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the percentage change in the real earnings of nurses in the period April 1975 to April 1981; and how this compares with the equivalent figure for earnings generally.
§ Dr. VaughanI regret that the information is not available in the form requested. However, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him earlier today.