Reports reveal that women in the NHS earn a quarter less than men
- Caitlin Jordan
- Apr 25, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2019
Data submissions to the Government Equalities Office reveal a gender pay gap of 23 per cent in the NHS.
As of this year, all companies and public bodies in the UK with more than 250 employees will be required to publish gender pay gap data to the Government Equalities Office.
The reports have shown that on average, women in the NHS earn nearly 23 per cent less than their male co-workers. This was disclosed through data covering more than one million individuals in the workforce, from managerial roles to doctors, nurses and cleaners.
According to the BBC, the average full-time female worker is paid £28,702 a year in basic salary. That compares to £37,470 for men. Findings based on submissions from 74 English NHS trusts reveal that nine out of 10 NHS trusts have a gender pay gap.
The Government Equalities Office said it will use the results to “better understand the causes of the gender pay gap and to target our efforts effectively as we continue work towards eliminating it”.
The gender pay gap is based on the difference between the average hourly wages of men and women. This differs from unequal pay where men and women are paid different amounts for the same role.
Dr Sally Davies, of the Medical Woman's Federation, told the BBC that the findings reflected the fact that men are more likely to make it into senior positions. An issue seen in the rest of the economy.
"I think it raises serious questions for the NHS and government. I would like to know what they are going to do about it."
In response, the Department of Health and Social Care said that they are working closely with NHS organisations to support them in closing their gender pay gaps and has committed to an independent review of the gender pay gap in medicine.
Janet McAuley, a clinical Site Nurse Practitioner at Ashford Hospital didn’t realise that there was a pay gap. Her team includes men who more or less earn the same or less than women, she said.
“I think at a ward level out of 40 staff there may be 10 men. At a higher level in nursing, I wouldn’t say it differs that much, you see more female ward managers and matrons than men. But you see more men at a more senior medical and a managerial level. At a higher level, men tend to be in more managerial or consultant roles and perhaps this is when it happens” she said.
On the BBC’s gender pay gap calculator, at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the average woman is paid 2.8 per cent less than the average man. Women make up 62 per cent of higher-paid jobs and 72.7 per cent of lower-paid jobs.
In the NHS, Doncaster and Bassetlaw teaching hospital's NHS foundation trust posted a gender pay gap of 26.5 per cent The Royal Orthopaedic hospital in Birmingham has a gap of 25.9 per cent, while it is 22.7 per cent at Burton hospitals NHS foundation trust.
While most gaps favour men, some pay gaps appear to favour women. At Liverpool community health NHS trust, women’s average pay is 17.3 per cent higher than men’s.
Bradford district care foundation trust favours women by 4.6 per cent and at Sussex community NHS foundation trust, women’s median pay is 3.8 per cent higher.
The Medic Portal attributes a list of reasons as to why the NHS gender pay gap exists. The list includes:
Its first report showed that 85 per cent of national clinical directors are men, while 80 per cent of the organisation’s lowest pay quartile are women. This validates that a factor for the pay gap is due to having a lower proportion of men in lower pay bands.
NHS England also acknowledged that 10 male employees were receiving a Clinical Excellence Award (CEA), compared to only two females. NHS England’s report suggested this was a historical pay feature that had been kept “in order to attract and retain skills and expertise”.
NHS England said it would use the data to explore progression rates, understand the causes of the pay gap, and develop a payment strategy to meet their equality and diversity standards. Additionally, they’re looking to review how they can attract more women into roles such as national clinical directors which are male-dominated.
They also proposed to “refresh” the flexible working policy by encouraging the take up of shared parental leave, and expand coaching programmes aimed at supporting the “talent development of women in the workplace”.
With annual reports to be provided, it is possible that the following data will deliver a deeper level of analysis concerning the NHS gender pay gap and across other sectors. These findings may prove relevant to future considerations regarding the culture of gendered inequality in the workforce.
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