Fury as tens of thousands of NHS nurses denied ‘backlog bonus’

TENS of thousands of NHS nurses will miss out on a bonus worth up to £1,600 because they are on flexible contracts.

Covid heroes who worked through the pandemic are furiously campaigning to get their cash after being left out of the new pay deal.

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At least 25,000 nurses who do all their shifts through the NHS bank – a roster of staff who work flexible hours – will not get the backlog bonus agreed after recent strikes.

They account for around six per cent of the 400,000 nurses and midwives in England.

Devon nurse Lucinda Quinton, 57, has worked in the NHS since 1993 and in the same hospital for 13 years.

She now works through the bank and does around 35 hours per week on the wards.

Lucinda said: “I’m so upset and everybody else feels the same. 

“There are thousands of us and we feel like second-class citizens.

“During Covid most of us were working on the Covid wards and I was doing three or four night shifts a week.

“We do exactly the same jobs as the other nurses and have all the same training – and we are getting the pay rise but not the bonus.

“At my hospital pretty much 50 per cent of the nurses are bank staff – if we chose not to work the hospital would be crippled.

“I really enjoy nursing and I love my patients, but I feel like I’ve been kicked in the teeth by the Government.”

A petition calling on ministers to pay bank workers the bonus has been signed by more than 23,000 people.

NHS figures show there were 25,761 nurses and midwives working only through the bank in December.

Staff who do bank shifts on top of a salaried job will get the cash as long as they are employed directly by their hospital.

The “backlog bonus” was agreed during strike negotiations to thank staff for working hard during the pandemic and on clearing the backlog since.

It is a lump sum worth between £1,250 and £1,600 depending on someone’s salary.

Nurses were also given a permanent five per cent pay rise and an extra two per cent for last year.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it was agreed that bank staff would not get the bonus but the Royal College of Nursing disagrees.

The RCN said it has written to Mr Barclay to fight for the workers to get the cash.

General Secretary Pat Cullen said: “If this situation is not resolved, it will create a two-tier system for staff and will do nothing to quell unrest regarding pay.

“It will also increase reliance on agencies as incentives for workers to use bank systems will only reduce further.”

Grilled about the fairness of the move in the Commons Health Committee last week, Mr Barclay said: “I take issue with the assertion that it was always part of the deal – quite the opposite.

“The discussion with the NHS Staff Council was always on the basis of those staff within the Agenda for Change employment terms.

“Many, many bank staff will of course be covered by that – but it was always clear in the eligibility criteria that was communicated to trade unions.”