We now face a major challenge to identify the efficiency savings required to fund the implementation on a recurring basis

Martin Woodford, Chief Executive, Powys NHS Trust

Union officials have campaigned against the system which they claim is unfair.

The Powys NHS Trust confirmed on Friday it would harmonise pay scales, but warned that it would cost �800,000 a year.

The anomaly dates back to the mid 1990s, when many NHS Trusts throughout Wales decided to introduce local rates of pay, rather than sticking to the national Whitley scale.

Most have now abandoned the idea, although it has continued for the majority of NHS nurses employed in hospitals and the community in Powys.

Pay disparity

Only 40% of nurses in the region earn the national pay rates set by the Whitley council.

Nurses' leaders say the difference in take-home pay between two staff members on the same grade and doing the same job can vary greatly.

Pay may be a factor in a shortage of nurses

They say the difference ranges from around �900 a year for an auxiliary nurse to �6,000 a year for an E grade nurse.

Trust chief executive Martin Woodford said the decision represented a "significant milestone" in achieveing pay harmonisation across the trust.

But he warned that they may need help to meet the extra cost.

"We now face a major challenge to identify the efficiency savings required to fund the implementation on a recurring basis, " he said.

"We will work closely with our partners in the Health Authority and Local Health Group to work up viable and sustainable funding plans for this year and the future".

Budget worries

The trust is proposing to scrap the lower local pay scale in October.

It says it should be able to fund the �400,000 cost for the final six months of the current financial year from existing resources.

But trust managers say they will have to identify efficiency savings to fund the recurring cost of implementing equal pay in future years.

Both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the public sector union Unison have campaigned for all staff to be employed on the national pay scales as soon as possible.

Kirsty Williams has demanded a solution

They have been supported by Kirsty Williams, Lib Dem AM for Brecon and Radnorshire, who also chairs the Welsh Assembly Health Committee.

She urged the Health Minister Jane Hutt to step in if the Powys NHS Trust could not afford the cost of such a decision.

On Thursday, the RCN warned that 2,000 extra nurses were needed to address NHS shortages acrosss Wales.

It followed a report from the Welsh Assembly which revealed that around 1,500 health service vacancies - including 794 nursing posts - remained unfilled.

Hospital managers in Wales have tried to solve the shortages by hiring nurses and other health staff from overseas, most notably the Phillippines.