Time for local NHS leaders to take a first step in tackling poverty: pay staff the real Living Wage - blog (25 January 2022)

Summary

In this blog for the King's Fund, Toby Lewis examines the need for NHS organisations to ensure its staff members in lower-paid roles are paid enough to meet their living costs. He calls for organisations to pay the real Living Wage, a figure based on actual living costs, rather than the National Living Wage. Currently, NHS pay scales at and below Band 2 spine point 3 do not reach the real Living Wage. He argues that adopting a real Living Wage policy results in a return on investment in the form of fewer vacancies, smaller staff turnover and less sickness - 60% of real Living Wage employers state that it improves recruitment, quality of applicant, and retention in lower-paid roles.