They shared a £60-million windfall last year for increased workload on top of their annual pay award giving
Posted in General on 27. Jul, 2010
They shared a £60-million windfall last year for increased workload, on top of their annual pay award, giving average rises in that year of 7.65 per cent.This year’s £50-million lump sum award to consultants will not be paid as a flat rate increase across the board but will be targeted at the hardest working doctors in the most pressured posts, such as medicine and surgery.The pay awards were welcomed by medical organisations although Unison, the health service union, described the award to nurses as “a spoonful of sugar” that would do little for the lowest paid. With an increase of 4.7 per cent last year many nurses have had rises of 12-14 per cent in two years when inflation has been around 4-5 per cent.Family doctors won increases of 3.3 per cent this year, bringing average pay for a full-time GP to more than £60,000. The overall rise is more than 6 per cent, or almost £4,000 on a typical consultant’s salary of £61,605.Most of the 420,000 nurses and midwives won basic rises of 3.4 per cent but 60,000 experienced staff nurses at the top of Grade E received an additional £1,000, taking their salaries from £17,830 to £19,220, a rise for this group of 7.8 per cent. Other smaller groups of junior nurses and physiotherapists received similar rises. Hospital consultants, the NHS’s fattest cats, walked away with the biggest increases to their pay packets this year, easily outdoing the nurses.
The consultants, whose pay scale starts at £47,345 and rises to a maximum (with an A plus merit award) of £120,130, were awarded an increase of 3.3 per cent for this year plus a share of a £50m lump sum agreed last year to compensate them for increased workload, worth an additional 3 per cent. Hospital consultants, the NHS’s fattest cats, walked away with the biggest increases to their pay packets this year, easily outdoing the nurses.
We will be hard pressed to make developments,” he said.The Prime Minister’s office insisted that the rises could be afforded by hospitals and health authorities from their budgets, which will rise by 4.5 per cent above inflation in April.. But the TUC claimed the Government could pump £30bn into vital public services such as health over the next three years without harming the strong state of Britain’s finances.Alan Milburn, the Secretary of State for Health, said nurses will get an increase of 3.4 per cent, well above the inflation rate of 2.2 per cent – lifting the pay of newly qualified nurses to £14,890 from April. Some 60,000 middle-ranking staff nurses will get an increase of 7.8 per cent, worth an extra £1,390 a year, raising their pay from £17,830 to £19,220.Family doctors and dentists will get rises of 3.3 per cent and consultants will get more than 6 per cent extra, including back pay awarded last year for those in hard-pressed NHS posts.Physiotherapists, radiographers and other professions allied to medicine will receive an extra 3.4 per cent.Mr Milburn said that the awards are to be implemented in full without staging, but warned they should not be seen as a pay norm for other groups, such as teachers.He said: “The across-the-board settlement of 3.4 per cent for nurses and other groups is high when set against the current headline inflation rate and more than we are expecting to pay settlements in the public sector generally.”NHS staff deserve a fair pay award, especially after coping so magnificently with huge pressures over the past few weeks.”Stephen Thornton, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said hospitals were already facing extra costs of at least £300m in increased pension contributions, the reduction in junior doctors’ hours and the rising cost of drugs The above-inflation pay rises would add to the pressure “Juggling all this will be very difficult. Tony Blair was facing fresh trouble over the NHS last night after announcing pay rises above inflation for 580,000 doctors, nurses and other health staff, which critics said would lead to a squeeze on services.
Downing Street used the higher-than-expected pay rises, beginning at 3.4 per cent, to defuse criticism of the Government’s handling of the NHS. But it ran into more flak over the failure to provide extra funding for the increases.Health experts warned that the rises would reduce the sums available for vital improvements in services.The NHS Confederation, representing NHS trusts, said that the health service was facing its toughest year in recent history. Tony Blair was facing fresh trouble over the NHS last night after announcing pay rises above inflation for 580,000 doctors, nurses and other health staff, which critics said would lead to a squeeze on services. You cannot fool around in the restaurant if you have three stars and I want to make it more relaxed.”But Mr Ladenis’s suggestions of Michelin-starred “stuffiness” angered his peers.
Gordon Ramsay, who failed to win his third star for the second year running, said he was appalled at Mr Ladenis’s comments and added that he was determined to bring the three stars back to London himself.”Nico is someone who has cashed in on his three stars and made millions out of having them and to say that people no longer want to eat in three-star restaurants is hypocritical,” Mr Ramsay said.Eighteen restaurants in Brtain were listed for the first time in the 100th Michelin Red Guide, including the first Conran restaurant to gain a Michelin star, The Orrery in Marylebone, London Twelve two-star restaurants are unchanged from last year.. The United Kingdom now has only one restaurant worthy of the Michelin Guide’s coveted three stars, according to the latest edition which is published today. The United Kingdom now has only one restaurant worthy of the Michelin Guide’s coveted three stars, according to the latest edition which is published today.
The Waterside Inn, in Bray, Berkshire, has kept its rating for the 16th year, but both of London’s two three-star restaurants have been removed at the request of their chefs.Marco Pierre White, of the Oak Room in the Hotel Meridien, Piccadilly, has retired to concentrate on his business interests, while Nico Ladenis, of Chez Nico, has changed direction by bringing down prices and simplifying the menu.Mr Ladenis said: “Working in a three-star restaurant is very restrictive and people do not want to eat very expensive food. But yesterday he was catapulted into the tournament at the last minute as a lucky loser after the Spaniard Carlos Moya, the runner-up here in 1997, had to withdraw with a back injury – and promptly catapulted out again following a straight-sets defeat by Switzerland’s Marc Rosset.The other British qualifier, 21-year-old Arvind Parmar, plays his first match today against Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco.. The crowd loved it.Henman was not the only Briton to savour the sweet taste of victory yesterday.
Julie Pullin, a qualifier from Worthing, notched up her first Grand Slam win, beating the American Jane Chi 6-1, 6-3 in 57 minutes. “It feels brilliant,” said Pullin, 24, who was British champion two years ago.Jamie Delgado may well play in the Davis Cup next month because of Rusedski’s injury. The opening set went with serve, but the tie-break saw a succession of breaks and ended with a double-fault from Henman that gave Golmard, ranked 35th in the world, a 7-3 success.The left-hander failed to press home his advantage, however. Henman pulled level after taking Golmard’s serve – the only break in the entire match – in the sixth game of the second set.
He then saved four break points early in the third set and sewed up the tie-break 7-4.After squandering five match points in the fourth set, Henman won the last tie-break 9-7, his final flourish a delicate drop shot over the net. He is also recovering from a miserable end to the 1999 season, which saw his world ranking plummet from a career-high fifth to 12th.If Henman’s fans are wondering whether his career will take a happier turn this year, they will have found few clues in his display against Golmard.Although he ultimately outclassed the 26-year-old Frenchman, holding his serve throughout, saving four set points in the fourth and blasting 30 aces (which he believes to be a personal match best), he never seemed to take full control. “There’s a bit of history there as well, and it was good to come through.”The 25-year-old from Oxford is making yet another attempt to win his first Grand Slam title and now plays Rainer Schuttler, of Germany, in the second round. But he has a poor record in Melbourne, where he has never progressed beyond the third round.