Staff at Harrogate District Hospital sold back almost 2,000 days off that they were entitled to in just six months, figures reveal.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, introduced a policy last year where staff could ‘sell’ time off they had accrued back to the trust in order to receive extra money in their pay packets.
It was hoped the move would ease the financial burden that many staff have been under throughout winter as the cost-of-living crisis deepened.
At the time, chief executive Jonathan Coulter even said the finances of some people working for the trust were putting them under more stress than the benefit of having a holiday.
The policy, which has now closed, was capped at a maximum of five days off sold per employee.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service sent a freedom of information request to the trust, which employs around 3,500 people, asking how many staff had taken the trust up on its offer.
The figures show that between September 2022 and March 2023, 492 employees sold back 14,480 hours.
If this were divided into seven-and-a-half hour shifts, it equates to around 1,800 individual days off sold.
Since the policy was introduced in September, members of health unions have gone on strike over low pay, which they argue is compromising patient safety and leading to an exodus of trained professionals from the NHS.
Ben Kirkham, GMB Union regional organiser, said the move by the trust to let staff sell days off is exacerbating staff burnout and sickness. He added:
“The NHS is suffering from chronic underfunding and a major crisis in staffing, resulting in huge appointment and operation back logs.
“For both staff and patients its vital that the NHS is funded properly and that means urgent investment.”
A Royal College of Nursing spokesperson said:
“RCN members are caught between twin crises. The cost-of-living crisis in which selling annual leave is one method of making ends meet and the staffing crisis. Nursing staff are already required to work significant levels of unpaid overtime to support increasingly unsafe levels of staffing across many health and care settings.”
‘Help staff with their money worries’
A Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said:
Nurses and ambulance workers in Harrogate district to strike today“Last year, as a consequence of the cost of living crisis and the pressures faced by our staff due to spiralling day-to-day costs, we introduced a cost of living package providing a wide range of support to help colleagues who were struggling.
“The support included financial aid in the form of a hardship grant, general help, advice and resources on financial and mental wellbeing, and for the first time, the opportunity for staff to sell up to five days of their holiday entitlement during 2022/23 financial year.
“Whilst we encourage colleagues to take their annual leave as it enables our minds and bodies to rest and recuperate, we felt that the option for staff to sell some of their annual leave would be appreciated as it would provide a further opportunity to help them with their money worries.
“The scheme ran until the end of March this year and we were pleased to support 492 colleagues who chose to sell some of their annual leave.
“Our staff are our greatest asset and it is important that we support them in these challenging times. Our range of support for staff continues to develop and we will look at introducing further means of support for our staff in the future.”
Nurses and ambulance workers in the Harrogate district will walk out today as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
Picket lines could be organised within yards of each other on Lancaster Park Road in Harrogate, where the hospital and the ambulance station are both located.
The Royal College of Nursing also plans to stage another walkout tomorrow (February 7).
The move comes as the union has called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to increase nurses’ pay and NHS funding.
Patricia Marquis, director for England at the RCN, said:
“People are having to wait longer to access services when demand has never been greater.
“Patients are not dying because nurses are striking. Nurses are striking because patients are dying.
“Our members have a mandate to take strike action for another 100 days – and the Prime Minister would do well to see these strikes for what they are: a warning of the need for swift action.
“The Prime Minister is letting down the nation’s health, millions of patients, and ultimately the economy. An ill and untreated population cannot work and contribute to the economic recovery that everybody wants to see.”
Read more:
- Union predicts some Harrogate district schools will close due to strike
- First ever nurses’ strike begins at Harrogate hospital
Meanwhile, GMB union members from Yorkshire Ambulance Service will stage another walkout in a dispute over pay and conditions.
Ambulance staff are also set to stage further walkouts on February 10.
In response to the strike action, a spokesman for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said:
Ambulance workers in Harrogate district could be set to strike“Comprehensive plans are in place to maintain the safety of patients requiring our services during the Royal College of Nursing’s industrial action.
“We are committed to providing the best possible levels of healthcare in any eventuality, and as ever, during the industrial action our focus has been on maintaining the safety of our patients.
“Whilst it is regrettable that some of our services have been affected by industrial action, we have ensured that essential services have remained available. Whilst we have been operating at reduced staffing levels in a number of areas such as inpatient wards, we worked with the RCN to ensure that we had sufficient nursing staff working to maintain patient safety.
“During the industrial action we have rescheduled appointments where it has been necessary. We have worked with the RCN to ensure that our services have remained safe.
“While pay is a matter for government and the trade unions, we greatly value our staff and respect those who have chosen to take part in industrial action. We want to see a resolution as soon as possible to ensure we can continue to focus on delivering high quality patient care to all those who need it.”
Staff at Yorkshire Ambulance Service are set to vote on strike action over a government pay offer.
The service employs 7,200 staff and covers all of North Yorkshire, including the Harrogate district.
The GMB Union, which represents 1,500 ambulance workers, said it held a consultative ballot over strike action which saw 90% vote in favour of a walk-out.
Turnout for the vote was 80%.
It comes after the government offered staff a 4% pay increase.
Following the outcome on the consultative ballot, Unions are now set to move towards holding a formal vote on industrial action.
Deanne Ferguson, GMB organiser, said:
“Ambulance staff should not be worrying about how they’ll heat their homes this winter or feed their families, whilst carrying out a crucial service across our communities.
“The service is crumbling, and it is having an impact on everyone – it is only surviving because of the amazing workers holding it together, through goodwill.
“GMB members have had enough, they are angry – and that’s why they want to move to a formal ballot for strike action.
“They’ve made history with their turnout and vote.
“GMB Union will stand shoulder to shoulder with our members as we fight for an above inflation pay rise for our NHS heroes.”
Dates for the formal ballot will be announced in the “coming days”, the union said.
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Four-day union congress in Harrogate draws to close
A demonstration by ambulance workers was among the highlights of a major trade union conference in Harrogate this week.
About 500 delegates from the GMB union have been in the town for the annual congress.
It is the first time the union, which represents over 500,000 members, has held its major event in Harrogate since 1928.
The congress, which ends tomorrow, began with ambulance workers demonstrating against the ‘worst ever’ pressures they are under.
The union said calls had almost doubled to 14 million a year since 2010 and the average response time for serious calls had increased from 20 minutes to 51 minutes in the year to April 2022.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national officer, said:
“Ambulance workers have faced more than a decade of cuts while demand has almost doubled.
“It’s no wonder they are leaving in droves while the service itself is teetering on the brink of collapse.
“Our members face unbelievable stress and even abuse while they do their best to administer care and save lives.
“We need urgent investment across the health and care services, otherwise we risk an unprecedented crisis.”
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