Health care workers including social workers employed by NHS should get the pay they deserve

BASW and SWU urge the government to reconsider 1% pay rise for health care staff

The government has recommended a 1% pay increase for NHS staff.  The 1% figure covers 2021 and 2022, as contained in a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) document for the NHS Pay Review Body.

Our health, social work and care colleagues are a skilled and committed workforce who have worked on the frontline throughout the pandemic, providing vital care and saving lives, it is time to give them the recognition they truly deserve.

BASW and SWU continue to advocate for good working conditions for social workers including good pay, and support colleagues in wider social care in their urgent calls for funding for pay and services.

We are adding our voice to call for health and care staff to be recognised for the work they do with the pay they deserve – a fair pay for all public sector workers.

John McGowan, General Secretary of the Social Workers Union (SWU) added:

"It is important to ensure proper funding and a suitable pay increases for all workers within the NHS in recognition of the brilliant work and commitments over the last 12 months.  As this pandemic has shown us, the government is happy to spend when it wants to, handing out millions to failed test and trace systems, meanwhile forcing society’s most vulnerable to scrape by."