NHS trusts are giving their staff hardship grants, low-cost meals and money to buy their children’s school uniforms to help them cope with the deepening cost of living crisis.
Others have set up food banks, are subsidising public transport fares and advising hard-up frontline personnel how to access supermarket vouchers to help feed their families.
The initiatives are part of what Clare Teeney, the chief people officer at the acute hospitals trust in Leicester, said was the NHS’s “moral responsibility” to assist a workforce whose real-terms earnings had declined as a result of years of pay freezes and below-inflation salary rises.
For example, Derbyshire community health services trust has set up a service where if staff are in urgent need of money they can apply for a fast-track grant of up to £500 from its charitable funds. Some have begun applying and the trust expected numbers to increase in the autumn as the energy price cap is raised, forcing households to pay more for their gas and electricity.
“Cost of living hardship can hit anyone and we have been clear that nobody should feel stigma about coming forward for help,” said Darren Tidmarsh, the trust’s deputy chief executive.
“We’ve set out to provide practical help to people and to be upfront in saying: we know it is a very uncertain time for everyone.” It is also providing £100 salary advances so staff can buy fuel, and free car parking in its car parks and has increased its mileage allowance for those working in the community, all as ways of putting more money in their workforce’s pockets.
Staff at Leeds teaching hospitals trust can apply for a £500 hardship grant from its Covid-instigated “employee support fund” and can do so more than once, depending on their circumstances.
Teeney said: “As NHS leaders I think we have a moral responsibility to support our colleagues through this challenging period.” Her trust has set up a staff food bank at each of its three hospitals – Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield and Leicester General – and is helping workers buy uniforms and equipment to help them prepare for the new school year.
It has also cut the cost of food in its canteens and allowed staff’s children to eat there for £1 each, lets staff travel free on hospital buses and arranged discounts on other services.
Overall, 29% of the Leicester trust’s staff earn a low wage. They are on NHS Agenda for Change pay bands one to three, which means they earn an annual salary of at most £23,177.
Trusts have begun putting in place a range of support to help staff negotiate soaring inflation amid reports that doctors and nurses have been “selling” their days off – forgoing leave to work extra shifts – and seeking emergency advances on their salary to generate cash to help pay their bills.
Derbyshire, United Hospitals of North Midlands and the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber trusts are among those that are allowing workers to receive an advance on their salary.
Staff of the Yorkshire trust can buy cheap frozen meals and fresh food at its cafe in Doncaster. Chicken curry, bean lasagne and Lancashire hotpot are among the frozen dishes available at £2 for a small, £4.50 for a medium and £5.50 for a large portion.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge (BHR) trust in London has set up a cost of living project team to devise ideas to relieve the financial burden on staff. It is giving out school uniform vouchers worth up to £30 a child and hosts uniform “swap shops” at its hospitals, starting on Thursday, in which staff can take home what clothing they need without having to bring any themselves.
BHR and Leeds are among many trusts that are putting on regular financial advice clinics for staff, sometimes in conjunction with Citizens Advice or money-saving experts.
Cambridge University hospitals, which runs the city’s Addenbrooke’s hospital, is spending £2m to help subsidise public transport for staff coming to and from work. In addition, lower-paid personnel – those earning up to £45,000 – can apply for a small loan.
“Like many people, NHS staff, including nurses, paramedics and healthcare assistants, are struggling with soaring bills and rising prices. Trust leaders know staff finances will only get worse in the coming months with energy costs and inflation expected to rocket further,” said Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of the hospitals group NHS Providers.
“Trust leaders have stepped in to support their staff during the biggest financial squeeze in decades. We’re seeing trusts roll out initiatives ranging from formal hardship funds and supermarket vouchers, to school uniform banks and salary advance schemes to help their staff make ends meet. But there is a limit to what any individual trust can do.”
The NHS in England is facing a potential series of strikes this winter by unions, which have dismissed the government’s recent offer of an average £1,400-a-year pay rise. The Royal College of Nursing and Unite this week initiated moves to ballot their members.
Cordery added: “The fact that this is happening at all is a sad indictment of the challenges we face. We know pay is a key factor in recruiting and retaining staff in the NHS and yet this year’s pay rise fell short of addressing the cost of living crisis we’re facing.”
