By Robert Campbell
In 2015, the minimum wage was just £3.87 at 18 – but £6.70 at 21. Is an age-based system right? It makes assumptions about younger people and their circumstances – or abilities… The recent Living Wage also uses age, applying only to those over 25. Currently £7.20 per hour – or 12p per minute.
My ‘campaign’ for fair pay started in 1966 as a 16-year-old clerk with relatively undemanding duties. Legible handwriting, the ability to file in alphabetical order and count trays of cards were the skills required. Clerical pay scales were age-related, which seemed unfair – I could be training a 35-year old who was paid far more than me!
At 18 the rate increased slightly, to take into account joining the NHS Superannuation Scheme. My pay at 16 was around 3s – or 15p – per hour. To reach today’s National Living Wage today I would’ve needed a 14p per hour pay rise annually. Current NHS scales rise in 20p increments.
At the higher end of the clerical scale, progression depended on the ability to undertake more complex tasks – perhaps telephone and reception duties – or to use equipment such as a typewriter – or a calculator! Nowadays, practice staff expertly use computers, scanners, telephone systems and more.
How the job has changed
When I was little, receptionists asked the patient’s name, extracted their record from a wooden filing cabinet, gave it the patient and asked them to sit down. Little else was said. There were no call systems. You remembered when it was your turn. There were no repeat prescriptions to collect, no computers. Only basic clerical skills were required.
Today, reception staff deal with a range of problems, use computer systems, organise repeat prescriptions, take messages, answer questions, practise confidentiality and safeguarding – even save lives using CPR. Duties aren’t simple – they’re complex. To pay minimum wage is insulting. Yes, times have changed. Progress made. Indeed, when Information Technology became the norm, there was an outcry to recognise skills required, similar to the proficiency awards given to typists. In the Prescription Pricing Service, awards were given to recognise the speed of staff pricing prescriptions. Originally, staff used comptometers to count the prices by pennies!
Simple or complex?
When does an administrative task become complex? It’s now normal to use a computer, a scanner, a photocopier and a fax machine. Is a data input clerk carrying out duties of a higher value than a receptionist? Is a medical secretary worthy of higher pay if copy typing, audio typing or taking shorthand? Is a clerical officer using Open Exeter or a secretary using Choose-and-Book worthy of higher pay? I think yes. You as Practice Manager may not agree – but you are NOT the employer.
Commonality and consistency
Should the NHS set up the next GP Contract to require regularised salary scales and pay grades for staff in general practice? There’s no clarity or consistency. Were it not for the Minimum Wage, Living Wage, annual leave and maternity leave, practice staff would ‘enjoy’ lesser terms and conditions of service. Should GP Practices use the NHS pay system, although Agenda for Change is not widely used? I suspect many practices still use the obsolete Whitley Council pay system, which for many years was still uprated each year by PCTs and the Common Service Agencies.
Do it Yourself
Perhaps the more common pay system in use is a ‘do it yourself’ system which is a mixture of various ‘old and new’ pay systems and perhaps more importantly for the GP employers, what they think they actually can afford…
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