Can I make myself clear here, when I say NHS specialist earn more I am not referring to the occupational health specialist working in the NHS but rather the other specialist nurses like diabetic, infection control or ITU nurses, comparatively these nurses earn slightly more than their Oh counterparts. I agree with the notion of supply and demand but that implies that there are more OH advisors than the market requires, this contradicts the realities in many OH departments in organisations up and down the country struggling to fill OH advisor post. See Dr. Richard Preece article in the March edition of the Occupational Health Journal. Musa Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:21:38 +0100 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [OCC-HEALTH] OHA's Salary To: [log in to unmask] Prior to my current role I worked in the NHS as an OH specialist practitioner and my salary really wasn’t that good. I have been in my current post for just under 3 years and my pay has increased significantly from the NHS pay so I struggle to see where Musa is coming from! I have friends also who worked for the NHS and now work in the private sector where the money is better. In my humble opinion it often can depend on whether the organisation knows what OH actually does and what our role entails. I am lucky enough to work in such a place, although I have worked hard to highlight what my role actually is and offer value for money into the bargain. Perhaps I’m not in Kansas anymore Toto!!!! Rita E.Ogden Lead Occupational Health Specialist Practitioner Occupational Health Service Westbrook Building 9H Bradford College Great Horton Road Bradford BD7 1AY Tel: 01274 433259 From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of sharon naylor Sent: 30 March 2011 19:29 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: OHA's Salary I think it depends on what value the organisation puts on OH, recent posts discussed hourly rates and pay generally- and the fact that circa £25/hr was usual for OHA`s but "counsellors" and similar could charge upwards of £75/hr with arguably less qulaifications. I suppose there is an argument about supply and demand too. The comment about OH providers will doubtless be controversial - I have no idea so wont add to the impending controversy, but have to say that I hadnt noticed that the NHS were necessarily "better payers". I think that if you work for private companies it depends whether they want to pay on NHS pay banding, as their perception is that we are "nurses" they look at what a "nurse" would get for working on a ward and offer similarly. I`m not sure that anyones salary has increased much lately in any profession............... However , if salaries are low then its because employers can get people for that money, and its an employers market at the moment Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:30:37 +0000 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: [OCC-HEALTH] OHA's Salary To: [log in to unmask] Hi List, I have been talking to few colleagues about the state of OHas, their salary and career prospect. It is quite baffling when one looks at the job adverts on recruitment websites, the poor salary being offered to qualified OHAs compared to their specialist counterparts in the NHS. What do people think about this? Is this a reflection of the status of occupational health in general or is it due to the proliferation of OH providers whose main objective is to keep salaries low and make lots of profit? In my observations the salaries being offered to OHAs has not moved for the past three years, now compare that to OHP, a complete ball of game. I think as a profession we needs to discuss about this and find a way to raise our profile and halt the stagnation in remuneration and status. I look forward to member’s contribution. Regards Musa ******************************** Please remove this footer before replying. OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH ******************************** Please remove this footer before replying. OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH ******************************** Please remove this footer before replying. OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH ******************************** Please remove this footer before replying. OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH