BIG PAY RISE NEEDED TO HALT HEALTH VISITOR RECRUITMENT CRISIS
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Health visitors are demanding a ‘substantial’ pay rise to help combat the growing recruitment crisis in the profession, which has an average age of nearly 48.
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In its evidence to the Pay Review Body for nurses, the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association said that a third of health visitors are aged more than 50 and could retire within the next five years.
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‘The CPHVA remains concerned that the community practitioner professions have markedly older age profiles than other nursing professions and that younger women are not joining the profession in sufficient numbers to counteract the effect of those older women going into retirement at increasingly lower ages than previously.’
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The CPHVA is calling for a substantial pay increase for all community practitioners in a bid to restore ‘real spending power’ to nurses.
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The CPHVA’s director, Jackie Carnell said: ‘Health visitors and community nurses are keen to play their part in implementing the government’s positive plans for the NHS. However, we believe that only a generous pay award this year will help boost the recruitment of nurses into the NHS and act as an incentive for those thinking of leaving to remain.’
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The CPHVA is unhappy at the way consultant nurse posts have been introduced ‘on the cheap’. Only 12 percent of posts were advertised at more than £35,000 a year.
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The CPHVA said: ‘This may be part of a wider pattern of undervaluing of senior women’s pay in the NHS.’ It wants a review by the Office of Manpower Economics in the introduction of the nurse consultant posts.
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The CPHVA also wants:
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