Harrogate’s struggling NHS staff selling back their days off to cope with cost of living crisis

The hospital is allowing NHS workers to trade time off for extra payments until the end of the year, while a hardship fund has also been set up to help with the soaring costs of energy, fuel and food.

This comes at a time when staff are set to vote on strike action over a below-inflation pay offer which unions have blasted as another real-terms pay cut.

Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, told a board meeting today that he had “always been against” staff selling annual leave, but the cost of living crisis now meant that providing support was “absolutely vital”.

“My justification for this is that the financial position of some staff is putting them under more stress than the benefit of having a holiday,” he said.

A total of 17 staff have so far applied for extra payments instead of time off, while 271 applications have been made to the hospital’s hardship fund which is offering grants of up to £500.

Wallace Sampson, hospital trust board member and chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council, said he had “mixed feelings” about staff being able to sell annual leave as he believes it is “very much needed” to help with their wellbeing.

In response, Mr Coulter said he agreed but this was the preference of some workers and that a five-day limit on the amount of time off that can be traded would ensure staff do get some down time.

He said: “There is an absolute maximum of five days, so staff can’t sell all of their annual leave.

“We have agreed the policy for this year as a one-off, partly recognising that people have a lot of annual leave because of Covid.

“We will need to review the initiatives, but at the moment they are absolutely vital.”

His comments come as strike action could span across several months this winter after the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) union notified hospital bosses that it will ballot its members over pay.

Other unions including GMB and Unison are also said to be making preparations for a vote.

The prospect of staff striking at what is always a busy time for under-strain services in winter has been described as “worrying” by senior officials at Harrogate District Hospital which has begun making contingency plans.

Around 100 of the hospital’s lowest-paid staff will see an uplift from a rise in the legal minimum wage to £10.90 in October.

However, Dr Suzanne Tyler, executive director at the RCM union, said the government needed to go further and give all workers a better pay rise after its members rejected a 4% increase offer.

Dr Tyler said in a statement: “Our members have spoken and just like us they believe a below inflation pay award is not good enough, they deserve more.

“The results and turnout speaks volumes about the feelings of a fragile, exhausted, and undervalued workforce, because taking industrial action is always the very last resort for midwives and maternity staff.

“They obviously now see no other alternative to getting a fair and just pay award from their governments.”