1.0 Introduction
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust (NTHFT) is required to carry out Gender Pay Gap (GPG) reporting under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations 2017).
It is important to understand that gender pay gap and equal pay are two distinct concepts:
Equal Pay is concerned with male and female employees earning equal pay for the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value.
The Gender Pay Gap is about the difference between male and female employee’s average pay within an organisation.
Reporting the Gender Pay Gap involves carrying out six calculations that show the difference between the average earnings of male and female employees within NTHFT. It does not involve publishing individual employee data.
The information contained within this report relates to 2022/23 and is based on the snapshot date of 31 March 2023.
2.0 Gender profile
As at the snapshot date of 31st March 2023, the Trust employed 4, 846 employees.
The overall gender profile for the Trust is reported as:
| Male | Female |
|---|---|
| 16% | 84% |
When compared against the NHS as a whole, the Trust’s gender profile shows that female representation is 7% higher within NTHFT, when compared to the national average which reports female representation at 77% and male at 23%.
3.0 Gender pay gap
3.1 Mean and median analysis
The gender pay gap measured by the median hourly rate is 23.51%, this has remained static since the previous year.
The gender pay gap measured by the median hourly rate is calculated as the mid-point of the salary distribution range for male and female employees.
| Gender | Average hourly rate | Median hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female | £17.79 | £15.68 |
| Male | £32.14 | £20.50 |
| Difference | £14.35 | £4.82 |
| Pay gap % | 44.65% | 23.51% |
To calculate the mean (average) hourly rate, earnings are totalled and then divided by the number of male and female employees.
The gender pay gap measured by the average hourly rate is 44.65% an increase of 8.96% since the previous year. Please refer to section 4.2 for further details.
3.2 Quartile reporting
The table below illustrates the gender distribution in NTHFT across four equally sized pay quartiles. The values for 2022 are shown in brackets.
| Quartile | Female | Male | Female % | Male % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper quartile (Q4) | 1006 (798) | 379 (334) | 72.64% (70.49%) | 27.36% (29.51%) |
| Upper middle quartile (Q3) | 1151 (1024) | 161 (109) | 87.73% (90.38%) | 12.27% (9.62%) |
| Lower Middle quartile (Q2) | 1051 (1019) | 146 (114) | 87.80% (89.94%) | 12.20% (10.06%) |
| Lower quartile (Q1) | 839 (1014) | 113 (119) | 88.13% (89.50%) | 11.87% (10.50%) |
The changes in the quartile representation are:
- An increase in the headcount of female employees in Q4: up 2.15% from 798 employees in 2022 to 1006 employees in 2023.
- An increase in the headcount for male employees in Q4 from 334 in 2022 to 379 in 2023 but an overall reduction in the % headcount of male employees in Q4: down 2.15% from 29.51% in 2021 to 27.36% in 2023.
- Increase in the headcount of male employees in Q3 from 109 in 2022 to 161 employees in 2023 an increase of 32.2%. The female equivalent was an increase of 11%.
- Increase in the headcount of male employees in Q2 from 114 in 2022 to 146 employees in 2023 an increase of 21.9%. The female equivalent was an increase of 3%.
- There was also a notable decrease in the headcount of female employees in Q1 from 1014 employees in 2022 to 839 employees in 2023 a reduction of 17.2%. The male equivalent was a reduction of 5%.
3.3 Impact of consultant medical and dental staff
As reported in previous years, there is a greater proportion of male workers within the categories of medical and dental (M&D) and very senior manager (VSM). These roles are the highest paid workers of the organisation and equate to 7.02% of the total workforce.
This information has been broken down further to show the impact of medical staff on the Trust’s gender pay gap and this shows that if we exclude medical staff, the gap is dramatically reduced. This is apparent again for 2022-23, with an overall average (mean) pay gap of 8.40%, when medical staff are excluded.
2022-23 Medical staff
| Gender | Average hourly rate | Median hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female | £62.73 | £71.23 |
| Male | £69.09 | £70.47 |
| Difference | £6.36 | £0.76 |
| Pay gap (%) | 9.21% | 1.07% |
2022-23 Non-medical staff
| Gender | Average hourly rate | Median hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female | £16.58 | £15.22 |
| Male | £18.10 | £16.84 |
| Difference | £1.52 | £1.62 |
| Pay gap (%) | 8.40% | 9.62% |
When we compare the information to the 2021-22 data (shown in the table below), there has been an increase in the overall average hourly rate for medical staff in 2022-23.
Female medical staff have seen an average hourly rate increase of £18.39, and male medical staff an increase of £21.43. This has impacted the overall average (mean) pay gap for medical staff, which has shown an increase of 2.24% since 2021-22. The median hourly rate for medical staff has seen a 3.44% reduction in the pay gap since 2021-22.
It’s interesting when we compare the non-medical staff data against the 2021-22 results, it can been seen there has been a 5.93% decrease in the overall average (mean) pay gap since 2021-22. The median hourly rate of 9.62% has seen an increase of 3.42% since the previous year of reporting.
However, when we look at non-medical staff (and specifically the median hourly rate), the data shows that the median hourly rate is much higher amongst the non-medical workforce (9.62%) when compared to medical staff (1.07%).
2021-22 Medical staff
| Gender | Average hourly rate | Median hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female | £44.34 | £46.68 |
| Male | £47.66 | £48.88 |
| Difference | £3.32 | £2.21 |
| Pay gap (%) | 6.97% | 4.51% |
2021-22 Non-medical staff
| Gender | Average hourly rate | Median hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female | £17.82 | £16.61 |
| Male | £20.80 | £17.71 |
| Difference | £2.98 | £1.10 |
| Pay gap (%) | 14.33% | 6.20% |
The quartile with the highest representation of male employees is the Upper Quartile (Q4), which represents the highest paid employees of the organisation.
Of the 379 male employees within Q4, 35% (134) are medical Consultants. There are 68 female medical Consultants, which accounts for only 6.75% of the 1006 female employees in Q4.
The table below shows the age profile of all medical Consultants as at 31 March 2023.
| Age profile | Female (number) | Female (%) | Male (number) | Male (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31-35 | 2 | (40%) | 3 | (60%) |
| 36-40 | 11 | (58% | 8 | (42%) |
| 41-45 | 21 | (51%) | 20 | (49%) |
| 46-50 | 9 | (21%) | 33 | (79%) |
| 51-55 | 11 | (30%) | 26 | (70%) |
| 56-60 | 8 | (35%) | 15 | (65%) |
| 61-65 | 3 | (14%) | 19 | (86%) |
| 66+ | 3 | (23%) | 10 | (77%) |
There are 70 male medical Consultants who are aged 51+. The number of female medical Consultants in the same age range is 25. It would usually be within this age range where medical Consultants would reach the top of the pay scale as it takes 19 years from the first year of employment as a medical Consultant. This will therefore give rise to a significant gap in the average earnings.
In the lower age brackets (31 to 50) there are 43 female Consultants and 64 male Consultants. There is a notable increase in the numbers of female employees occupying consultant roles through the lower age brackets, when compared to the upper age brackets.
3.4 Pay band review
The proportion of females and males employed within each pay band is shown in the chart below. This illustrates the proportion of female and male staff within each of the pay bands.
It can be seen that a number of the pay grades are broadly representative of the Trust’s gender ratio ( 84:16), however there is higher female representation employed in bands 1-7, and higher male representation for medical and dental staff.
When we compare this information against the previous year, the notable differences are reported as:
- There is an increase in male representation at Band 2 (24% increase), band 3 (25% increase) and band 5 (22% increase) for 2022-23.
- There is increased female representation at Bands 8a (13% increase), band 8c (25% increase) and Very Senior Managers (50% increase)
All employees of the Trust, with the exception of medical and dental staff (M&D) and very senior managers (VSM) are paid on national Agenda for Change (AfC) pay, Terms and Conditions of Service.
The Terms and Conditions set out the band structures and pay for all employees to ensure transparency, fairness and equal treatment for all.
4.0 Bonus pay gap
This section of the report is focused on the Trust’s Gender Bonus Pay Gap %, which is reported as being an average of 19.25% for 2023 a reduction of 41.39% since the 2022 report.
The Trust does not operate a bonus scheme, however Consultant Medical and Dental staff are eligible to apply for clinical excellence awards (CEA), which are considered to be a bonus payment and therefore form part of the gender pay gap calculations.
The table below provides a breakdown of the average mean and median rate of bonus pay (CEA’s):
| Gender | Means bonus pay | Median bonus pay |
|---|---|---|
| Male | £8,505.72 | £4,653.01 |
| Female | £6,868.63 | £4,653.01 |
| Difference | £1,637.10 | £0.00 |
| Bonus pay gap | 19.25% | 0.00% |
The average gender bonus rate of pay is reported at 19.25% for 2023, which is a decrease of 41.39% from the previous year. This has significantly reduced due to the impact of the previous years ‘thank you’ cash bonus payment which was paid to all employees.
The median difference is zero because the midway point for both male and female is the same and is due to the CEA’s being split equally.
Since agreement of the national pay award for Medical Consultants, CEA’s will cease from 2024. This will therefore impact on future gender pay reporting as we will no longer have to report and review CEA’s as part of the bonus pay gap.
4.1 Where is the average bonus pay gap?
The non-competitive process of awarding CEA’s for 2022-23 has had a significant impact in this area. This resulted in the awards being paid to a total of 123 male (68%) Consultants and 58 (32%) female Consultants.
For 2022-23, the annual amount for investment was equally distributed amongst all eligible Consultants as a one-off, non-consolidated payment.
The Trust’s Consultant medical workforce are predominantly male, therefore it is unsurprising that the Gender Bonus Gap % indicates that male Consultants earn a higher rate of average bonus pay (CEAs) than female Consultants. This is because there are more male Consultants employed by the Trust and therefore there are more male Consultants who are in receipt of a CEA.
4.2 Where is the mean pay gap?
The increase in the mean (average) Gender Pay Gap has been attributed due to the majority of our male medical Consultant staff within the upper quartile (Q4). This is the highest paid group of medical staff which significantly impacts on the mean gender pay gap.
When calculating the hourly rate of pay for the overall mean pay gap, this is worked out based on employee’s total annual salary (including basic pay, any allowances and any bonus payments) received during the reporting year. As CEA’s are included as part of the average hourly rate of pay the Trusts overall mean gap is strongly influenced by both the average pay and gender make-up of the medical staff. The imbalance in these numbers has a significant impact on the overall Gender Pay Gap for this year.
5.0 Actions to address our gender and bonus pay gap
Our actions to improve the Trust’s Gender Pay Gap align with the Trust’s wider organisational strategic goals, specifically ‘Valuing our People’. They also support our commitments to the NHS People Plan.
We continue to commit to address our gender and bonus pay gaps and we will look to implement the following actions:
- As part of our organisational commitment to inclusion we will consider the language, images and branding we use to promote and advertise roles and careers within our organisation.
- To analyse NHS Staff Survey data, particularly focussing on the experience of women.
- We will continue to encourage our senior leaders to role model working flexibly and to champion flexible working arrangements.
- The Trust is committed to tackling health inequalities. Our workforce health and wellbeing procedures, policies and our strategy will all contribute to closing the gender pay gap by understanding and tackling the inequalities faced by women belonging to specific groups, based on characteristics such as ethnicity, age, deprivation and profession.
- We continue to promoting and updating workforce policies in line with current best practice to promote gender equality, fairness and health literacy.
- The Women and Men’s network offers a place for staff to come together, share experiences and facilitate learning and development. The network will also assist in the shaping and delivery of organisational strategy and policy, working with us to improve staff experience on specific gender related issues and adding more depth to our Gender Pay Gap Action Plan.
PDF document
Click the link below to view or download our gender pay gap report:
Gender pay gap report March 22-2023 (2MB pdf)
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