MP calls on Prime Minister to back fair pay for NHS staff
Hannah Brown, Local Democracy Reporter
South Cambridgeshire MP Anthony Browne called on Boris Johnson at Prime Minister's Question Time to help ensure local NHS staff are paid fairly to prevent them moving away from Cambridge. - Credit: parliamentlive.tv
South Cambs MP Anthony Browne has called on Boris Johnson to help make sure local NHS staff are paid fairly to prevent them from moving away due to Cambridge being unaffordable.
Mr Browne asked his question during Prime Minister’s Question Time on May 25.
Mr Browne said: “Cambridge is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, but unlike many cheaper places, NHS workers in the city get no high cost of living supplement.
“NHS workers in Cambridge pay higher rents than NHS workers in outer London boroughs like Redbridge and Croydon, Bexley and Barking, and yet they get paid 15 per cent less.
“This makes it very difficult for the NHS in Cambridge, including Addenbrooke’s Hospital, to retain and recruit staff.
“Will my right honourable friend the Prime Minister work with me to make sure that NHS workers in South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge get paid fairly.”
In reply, Mr Johnson said: “I hope that the independent NHS pay review board will listen carefully to what my honourable friend has just said.”
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Earlier this month, a meeting of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s board of directors raised the issue of the cost of housing in the city.
The meeting was told that the hospitals, including Addenbrooke’s, are having to turn away 20 potential staff a month due to not being able to find them somewhere to live.
David Wherrett, the Trust’s director of workforce, said this issue could end up having an impact on hospital services.
