Coronavirus: Sheffield hospitals reverse nursing trainees pay cut

The trainees were studying to be nursing associates at Sheffield hospitals

A hospital trust has said that trainee nursing staff will not lose pay after their course was stopped due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 67 nursing associates were facing a salary cut of up to £1,700 after Sheffield Teaching Hospitals halted the training.

The trust initially told trainees they could either leave the trust or take up another role on a lower salary.

It has now apologised and said the staff would have "no loss in pay".

Trade union Unison said it welcomed the decision to reverse the pay cut.

The trust had written to the trainees and told them the decision was made because the Covid-19 pandemic had "placed intense and unparalleled pressure on the health service".

'Exceptional circumstances'

Director of Human Resources Mark Gwilliam said the training scheme remained "paused", but added that the trust was "addressing the issue and there will be no loss in pay".

"The information we gave had not taken account of the exceptional circumstances we are currently in and we can only apologise for this and any upset it has caused," he said.

"We will be contacting the individuals affected to discuss what they wish to do in the hope that they will be kind enough to remain part of our team."

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A recent report by the Centre for Cities said Sheffield had the highest level of coronavirus infection outside of London.

According to the NHS careers website, "nursing associates work with healthcare support workers and registered nurses to deliver care for patients".

Training for the role is carried out via an apprenticeship scheme and mostly takes place as on-the-job learning in hospitals.