Almost 900,000 public sector workers who have been working on the front line fighting the coronavirus pandemic will be rewarded with an inflation-busting pay rise, but nurses and care workers will not be included.

Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced the pay rise after months of political pressure to reward frontline key workers. Public sector workers including doctors, dentists, teachers, police officers and the armed forces will benefit from the rise. But no new rise has been announced for other NHS staff including nurses, care workers cleaners and porters who have all risked their lives and more than 300 NHS workers have lost their lives throughout this pandermic. 

With inflation currently just 0.6%, the biggest increase of 3.1% goes to teachers, followed by the doctors and dentists receiveing 2.8%.

Below is a breakdown of the pay rises in full. 

• School Teachers 3.1 per cent
• Doctors & Dentists 2.8 per cent
• Police Officers 2.5 per cent
• Armed Forces 2 per cent
• National Crime Agency 2.5 per cent
• Prison Officers 2.5 per cent
• Judiciary 2 per cent
• Senior Civil Servants 2 per cent
• Senior Military 2 per cent

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: "These past months have underlined what we always knew – that our public sector workers make a vital contribution to our country and that we can rely on them when we need them. It’s right therefore that we follow the recommendations of the independent pay bodies with this set of real-terms pay rises."

"Each award is recommended by independent pay review bodies, and this year government accepted the headline recommended rise for each workforce. This year’s pay awards reflect the enormous effort made by those in the public sector in responding to the unprecedented challenges for the country during the Covid-19 outbreak."

The pay awards for the armed forces, prison officers, senior civil servants and NHS staff work will be backdated to April this year, whereas the pay rise for police and teachers starts in September which run on a different pay year (September-August).

NHS nurses are not included in the announcement because they negotiated a three-year deal in 2018.They are already in the final year which expires in April 2021 and hasn't yet been renewed.
The Treasury pointed to the three-year Agenda for Change pay deal agreed in 2017, which it said saw starting pay for newly qualified nurses increase by 12 per cent, citing an average rise of 4.4 per cent for nurses outside of the most senior roles. The Royal College of Nurses has calculated that the average salary for a nurse has fallen by 8 per cent in real terms since the Tories were elected in 2010.

Unions said the pay rises which ministers have failed to commit to for months amid widespread public outcry are minimal in comparison to the real-term cuts seen over a decade of austerity.

They also highlighted that public sector, including social care workers – who have also risked their lives during the crisis – would receive no such increase. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "These rises are welcome, but there's still a long way to go to restore pay after a decade of real terms cuts," she said. “Many public sector workers, like job centre staff and local government workers, aren’t getting these rises. They deserve a decent pay settlement too." “And the government should urgently announce a pay rise for social care workers, who put their lives on the line to care for others during this pandemic.”

Social care workers are reliant on private firms which is why they not get a dedicated pay rise either. Policing minister Kit Malthouse said social care workers would have to rely on increases in the minimum wage to improve their pay levels.

As almost a million public sector workers were awarded pay rises, Mr Malthouse said: "The vast majority of social care workers are paid in the private sector so our ability to influence pay rates there is limited." He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that - apart from "nationalising the entire thing" - the minimum wage rate was the best tool the Government had to recognise the efforts of care workers."
"What we have done is raise the level of the minimum wage very significantly over the last few years to get it up towards the £10.50 mark. That, we hope, will push through into these private sector jobs."

"Everybody looks at people who work in social care during coronavirus and thinks they have done a fantastic job in very, very difficult circumstances. But that's the mechanism by which we think we can increase pay in that sector."

Given that the whole nation were clapping for carers and front line NHS staff every Thursday evening for almost 10 weeks to show their appreciation this is very disheartening to those who risked their lives and continue to do so. 

The Treasury said the money for the pay increases of up to 3.1% would come from existing departmental budgets, meaning cash-strapped government departments must work out how to pay for them.

Labour shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the Conservatives had frozen public sector pay for seven years, and the rises they introduced after that failed to plug the gap. She said the pay rise was "good news" but added that it "won't make up for a decade of real-term pay cuts" for many front-line workers. 

The British Medical Association said doctors had hoped for "far better". Dr David Wrigley, vice-chairman of the British Medical Association, said doctors would feel "disappointed and let down" as pay "has fallen way behind" over a decade. He told BBC Breakfast: "These are the sort of rises we'd expect to see in normal times, not in a time when many of us have not had a day off in six months and have been putting our lives on the line."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "These past few months have been an incredibly challenging time for our NHS, and the resolve, professionalism and dedication of staff has been on show throughout. We are able to accept the recommendations of the independent pay review body for dentists and doctors."

"I am committed to supporting the entire NHS and social care workforce through improved recruitment and retention and delivering 50,000 more nurses and 6,000 more doctors in general practice."

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It is very easy to assume a healthcare assistant and care assistant are the same. But, in fact there is a difference between them. We've come up with a way to easily define the two which will help you find the right job.

Knowing the difference between Healthcare Assistants and Care Assistants is extremely important when finding a job to tailor to your expertise.

Although the terms ‘care assistant’ and ‘healthcare assistant’ are used interchangeably by people and the duties of both roles are similar, they are usually in separate categories which helps to create some differentiation between social care and clinical/hospital care roles.

The ‘Care assistant’ sector on www.tltpcare.co.uk  is intended to be used for role that are community, care home or domiciliary. Whilst the job title and description may use the term ‘healthcare assistant’ or ‘HCA’ to refer to the role, the difference in skills between a social care setting and a hospital or clinical setting is, in our opinion, too great to have all the jobs lumped in together in a single sector. 

On www.tltpmedical.co.uk we have a sector called Primary Care where the role of a ‘Healthcare Assistant’ falls into. It is intended for hospital and clinical roles. Healthcare assistants can be found in hospitals or GP surgeries. They can also be known as ‘healthcare support workers’ or ‘auxiliary nurses’, particularly when working in a hospital setting.

Find out more about healthcare assistants and carers https://www.tltpmedical.co.uk/healthcare-assistants-and-carers including how you can progress within the role.

What about qualifications?

Typically, any care assistant or healthcare assistant role will require candidates to have a vocational qualification; NVQ or an equivalent. QCF or NVQ Level 2 or 3 diplomas in Health and Social care or equivalent are a typical requirement for care assistants. Whilst there is no formal requirement regarding qualifications for care assistant or HCA roles, it is common for care assistants and HCAs to undertake additional training whilst they are employed.  

An enhanced DBS is also required to work any healthcare setting, which any reputable agency, like TLTP Medical, can process for you along with providing the necessary training required. The DBS and training must be renewed and kept up to date.

Latest Healthcare Assistant and Care Assistants Jobs

TLTP Medical work with several NHS Trusts across the UK, as a result we have a wide range of healthcare roles available that are flexible and rewarding. Visit https://www.tltpmedical.co.uk/job-search/browse/healthcare-assistants-carers/jobs for the latest jobs and apply today.

Don’t worry if you cannot find what you are looking for as we have new roles arriving daily. Register your details so you’ll never miss out on the latest opportunities.

During these challenging times TLTP Medical have been working extremely hard through safe measures to ensure patients continue to be looked after and their care needs are met. 

All of our frontline healthcare workers have shown immense dedication and have gone above and beyond their duty of care throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. In particular two of our healthcarers Monica and Alexandre who have been supporting the NHS East Kent Home Support Team for some time, responded to an incident whilst on duty last Tuesday 6th May. 

They witnessed a road traffic accident whilst they were driving to their evening patient visit. An individual swerved off the road and hit a pole. Monica and Alexandre stopped along with a taxi driver and called 999. They found the driver of the vehicle unable to breath and then he stopped breathing altogether.

  
Alexandre - Healthcare Assistant                           Monica - Healthcare Assistant

The 999 operator told them to get the man out of the car, lay him flat and to start CPR until the ambulance arrived. They duly followed the advice and Alexandre completed CPR for approximately 10 minutes until the ambulance crew arrived and took over. The gentleman was defibrillated and took him into the ambulance breathing.

After providing a statement to the police who attended the incident, they then carried on to their last patient visit who was receiving end of life care. Given the shock they were both in, they were extremely brave and kept calm throughout the situation. They both composed themselves together and proceeded with taking care of their patient.

Staffing Manager, Jane May said 'You should and I know that you will be incredibly proud of Monica and Alexandre and both the service and KCHFT are both grateful and impressed by their actions.'

Lisa Camp, Managing Director for TLTP Medical responsed 'Our frontline staff have worked so hard and to hear that they have done that and gone the extra mile makes me exteremly proud. We are very lucky to have staff who care so much, are reliable, passionate and dedicated.'

Lisa Camp - TLTP Medical Managing Director

She concluded to say 'It's not a just a job to them, It's the satisfaction they feel knowing they have helped and cared for their patients, bringing a smile to their faces and brightening up their days just by saying hello'. 

TLTP Medical are recruiting for healthworkers for various NHS projects across the UK, if you are interested in finding out more information please call the Primary Care team on 020 8709 6553. Alternatively register your details here www.tltpmedical.co.uk/user/registration.

View the latest healthcare jobs