1.0 Introduction
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (STHFT) is committed to providing outstanding patient care. We do this by ensuring we have a diverse, talented and high performing workforce. As part of this commitment, we will ensure everyone, regardless of their background can contribute to creating an inclusive and compassionate culture and that gender equity is considered at each stage of the employee life cycle. South Tees NHS Foundation Trust 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 deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. The gender pay gap showcases the difference between the average pay of men and women in an organisation. We are committed to ensuring that our pay practices are transparent, fair and equitable. The Trust has adopted and implemented national NHS pay schemes, which have undergone an equality analysis.
Reporting the Gender Pay Gap involves carrying out six calculations that show the difference between the average earnings of male and female employees within South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It does not involve publishing individual employee data. This snapshot of data was collected as of 31 March 2024 in line with Government instructions.
For ordinary pay calculations (section 3), only ‘Full Pay Relevant Employees’ are to be included. A ‘Full Pay Relevant Employee’ is any employee who is employed on the snapshot date and who is paid their usual full basic pay (or pay for piecework) during the relevant pay period. The mean hourly rate is calculated for each employee based on ‘ordinary pay’ which includes basic pay and any shift pay and allowances.
For Bonus pay calculations (section 4) the total workforce would be included in the calculations as per the national ESR BI report.
2.0 Gender profile
As at the snapshot date of 31st March 2024, the trust employed 10603 employees.
The overall gender profile for the Trust is reported as:
| Male | Female |
|---|---|
| 19% | 81% |
Table 1. Trust gender profile
When compared against the NHS, the trust’s gender profile shows that female representation is 5% higher within South Tees Hospital Foundation Trust when compared to the national average which reports female representation at 76% female and 24% male
3.0 Gender pay gap
3.1 Mean and median analysis
The gender pay gap measured by the median hourly rate is 21.41%, this has shown a 0.06% negative increase on 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 | £16.42 | £14.11 |
| Male | £23.15 | £17.96 |
| Difference | £6.73 | £3.84 |
| Pay gap % | 29.08% | 21.41% |
Table 2. Pay gap by mean and median hourly rate
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 29.08% a decrease of 0.1% since the previous year. Please refer to section 4.2 for further details.
A summary showing the position for the previous five years as at 31 March (2020 – 2024) is contained at Appendix 1 of this report.
3.2 Quartile reporting
The table below illustrates the gender distribution within South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust across four equally sized pay quartiles. The values for 2023 are shown in brackets.
| Quartile | Female | Male | Female % | Male % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper quartile (Q4) | 1758 (1695) | 799 (758) | 68.75% decrease (69.10%) | 31.25% increase (30.90%) |
| Upper middle quartile (Q3) | 2133 (2077) | 287 (276) | 88.47% increase (88.27%) | 11.53% decrease (11.73%) |
| Lower Middle quartile (Q2) | 2105 (2118) | 379 (345) | 84.74% decrease (85.99%) | 15.26% increase (14.01%) |
| Lower quartile (Q1) | 2083 (1921) | 400 (386) | 83.89% increase (83.27%) | 16.11% decrease (16.73%) |
Table 3. Gender distribution by pay quartile
3.3 Where is the pay gap?
The slight reduction in the mean (average) gender pay gap can be attributed to a number of factors:
- An increase in % of male employees in the upper quartile (Q4)
- The difference in average hourly rate between male and female staff has resulted in an increase from £6.44 in 2022/23 to £6.73 in 2023/24, however there is still a slight decrease in the pay gap which stands at 29.08% in 2023/24. When broken further into medical and non-medical the average mean pay gap for agenda for change is 3.45% and for medical staff is 3.73% – these are both lower that the previous year
- The median hourly increase from 2023 to 2024 was £0.87 for male employees and £0.67 for female employees, therefore resulting in an increase in the difference between male and female median average pay of £0.19 from £3.65 in 2022/23 to £3.84 in 2023/24.
| Gender | 2023/2024 hourly pay | 2022/2023 hourly pay |
| Female | £16.42 | £15.62 |
| Male | £23.15 | £22.06 |
| Difference | £6.73 | £6.44 |
| Pay gap % | 29.08% | 29.18% |
Table 4. Pay gaps in 2023/2024 compared to 2022/2023
The changes in the quartile representation are:
- An increase of 3.7% in the headcount of female employees in Q4 from 1695 female employees (in 2023) to 1758 employees (in 2024). The male headcount also increased by 5.4% from 758 (22/23) to 799 (23/24). However, the proportion of females was lower by 0.35% this year whilst male representation increased by 0.35%.
- An increase in the headcount for female employees in Q3 from 2077 in 2023 to 2133 with an overall increase in the % headcount of female employees in Q3: up 0.2 % from 88.27% in 2023 to 88.47% in 2024.
- A decrease of 0.6% in the headcount of female employees in Q2 from 2118 in 2023 to 2105 employees in 2024. The male equivalent was an increase of 9.1%
- There was also a notable increase in the headcount of female employees in Q1 from 1921 employees in 2023 to 2083 employees in 2024, an increase of 8.4%. The male equivalent was an increase of 3.6%
3.4 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 10.02% 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. The average pay mean for non-medical colleagues sits at 3.45%.
2022-23 Medical staff
| Gender | Average hourly rate | Median hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female | £39.45 | £44.91 |
| Male | £40.98 | £42.99 |
| Difference | £1.53 | £1.92 |
| Pay gap (%) | 3.73% | -4.48% |
Table 5. 2023 to 24 Medical staff pay gap reporting
2022-23 Non-medical staff
| Gender | Average hourly rate | Median hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female | £15.51 | £13.97 |
| Male | £16.06 | £13 |
| Difference | £0.55 | £0.97 |
| Pay gap (%) | 3.45% | -7.49% |
Table 6. 2023 to 24 non-medical staff pay gap reporting
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 799 male employees within Q4, 49% (394) are medical Consultants. There are 186 female medical Consultants, which accounts for 10.6% of the 1758 female employees in Q4.
The imbalance in these numbers has an impact on the overall gender pay gap.
The table below shows the age profile of most Consultant staff at 31 March 2024.
| Age | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| 31-35 | 5 (38%) | 8 (62%) |
| 36-40 | 35 (44%) | 44 (56%) |
| 41-45 | 57 (48%) | 63 (53%) |
| 46-50 | 37 (33%) | 75 (67%) |
| 51-55 | 31 (27%) | 82 (73%) |
| 56-60 | 14 (23%) | 47 (77%) |
| 61-65 | 4 (9%) | 40 (91%) |
| 66+ | 0 (0%) | 11 (100%) |
Age profile of medical consultants as of 31 March 2024.
There are 180 male medical Consultants who are aged 51+. The number of female medical Consultants in the same age range is 49. 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 134 female Consultants and 190 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.
3.5 Pay band review
The proportion of females and males employed within each pay band is shown in the chart on the PDF document. This illustrates the proportion of female and male staff within each of the pay bands.
Female representation is higher in all bands (only 1 male at B1) apart from Medical and Dental staffing where male representation is higher.
All employees of the trust, apart from medical and dental staff (M and 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 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 61.82% for 2024 an increase of 28.11% since the 2023 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 | £1,279.06 | £6,337.74 |
| Female | £3,350.25 | £9,560.78 |
| Difference | £2,071.19 | £3,223.04 |
| Bonus pay gap | £61.82 | £33.71 |
Table 10. Average mean and median rate of bonus pay
The pay gap based on bonus payments this year is significant but can be attributed to the bonus payments that most staff received in June 2023. Eligible staff received an additional one-off payment of 2% of their earnings for 2022-23 and staff who were employed on the 31 March 2023 also receive a one-off NHS backlog bonus worth between £1,250 and £1,600.
The median difference is 7.41% because the midway point for both male and female is affected by the bonuses that were received in this financial year.
| Gender | 2023/2024 bonus payments | 2022/2023 bonus payments |
| Female | £1,250.00 | £4,415.22 |
| Male | £1,350.00 | £4,415.22 |
| Difference | £100 | £0 |
| Pay Gap % | 7.41% | 0% |
Table 11. Bonus payments
Since agreement of the national pay award for Medical Consultants, CEA’s will cease from 2024 and will impact from 2025 gender pay reporting as we will no longer have to report and review CEA’s as part of the bonus pay gap.
4.4 Where is the average bonus pay gap?
For 2023-24, 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.
5.Benchmarking
The NHS, as a whole, does not undertake national reporting of the Gender Pay Gap, however the information for each individual NHS organisation is available online via the Government’s equalities office.
Appendix 2 illustrates a comparison of the Trust against similar organisations within the Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS).
All Trust’s within the ICS have published their Gender Pay Gap data for 2022-2023 and no Trusts have published data for the 2023-2024 report, although it is noted that the deadline for our reporting is not until 30 March 2025. In respect of the Average Hourly Rate of Pay, all NHS organisations within the ICS report that male employees receive a higher average rate of pay when compared to female employees.
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 and positive action 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 promote and update workforce policies in line with current best practice to promote gender equality, fairness and health literacy.
- We will develop our network to offer 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.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Gender Pay Gap Reporting – Five Year Analysis
| Report indicator | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference for 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Difference in hourly rate of pay Mean (average) | 29.9% | 31.5% | 31.9% | 29.37% | 29.18% | 29.08% | -0.1% |
| Difference in hourly rate of pay Median (middle) | 21.1% | 19.5% | 19.2% | 22.98% | 21.35% | 21.41% | -0.06% |
| Difference in Bonus Pay Mean (average) | 35.1% | 37.3% | 27.9% | 3.11% | 33.71% | 61.82% | +28.11% |
| Difference in bonus pay Median (middle) | 33.33% | 12.5% | 24.8% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.41% | 7.41% |
| % of male employees who received bonus pay | 10.5% | 9.8% | 8.4% | 15% | 15.8% | 72.85% | +57.05% |
| % of female employees who receive bonus pay | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1.5% | 1.63% | 84.93% | +83.3% |
| Upper Quartile (Q4) male | 31.40% | 31.6% | 32.5% | 32.226% | 30.9% | -1.32% | |
| Upper Quartile (Q4) female | 68.6% | 86.40% | 67.5% | 67.78% | 69.1% | +1.32% | |
| Upper Middle (Q3) male | 13.70% | 12.8% | 11.3% | 11.27% | 11.73% | +0.46% | |
| Upper Middle (Q3) female | 86.30% | 87.2% | 88.7% | 88.7% | 88.27% | -0.46% | |
| Lower Middle (Q2) male | 11.60% | 12.7% | 12.5% | 14.38% | 14.01% | -0.37% | |
| Lower Middle (Q2) Female | 88.40% | 87.3% | 87.5% | 85.62% | 85.99% | +0.37% | |
| Lower (Q1) male | 16.60% | 12.7% | 15.5% | 15.40% | 16.73% | -1.33% | |
| Lower (Q1) female | 83.40% | 84.3% | 84.5% | 84.60% | 83.27% | +1.33% |
Five Year Analysis.
Appendix 2: Gender Pay Gap Benchmarking – Five Year Analysis to 31 March 2024
| Employer | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 20.80% | 21% | 21.40% | 21.10% | 19.80% |
| North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust | 35.30% | 35.60% | 36.70% | 35.60% | 44.65% |
| Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust | 13.40% | 14.60% | 13.20% | 8.60% | 11.60% |
| Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust | 29.80% | 24.80% | 27.20% | 28.30% | 23.70% |
| The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 25.20% | 24.90% | 20.60% | 25.20% | 22.40% |
| County Durham And Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | No data reported | 37.70% | 37.40% | 34.30% | 33.80% |
| South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 29.90% | 31.50% | 31.90% | 29.40% | 29.20% |
| Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust | 14.70% | 12.20% | 10.70% | 10.70% | 11.90% |
| South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust | No data reported | 31.90% | 31.70% | 31.60% | 30.90% |
| North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust | 2.10% | 1.10% | -1.70% | -0.20% | 0.90% |
Five Year Analysis to 31 March 2024
Supporting Notes
The gender pay gap is shown as both median and mean (average).
Median:
- the middle figure when hourly pay is arranged in order from highest to lowest
- shows the ‘typical’ situation
- not distorted by very high or low figures
- may hide specific gender pay gap issues
Mean (average):
- total hourly pay of all employees divided by the number of people in the group
- gives a good overall indication of the gender pay gap
- can be distorted by very high or low hourly pay
Understanding gender pay gap figures
The gender pay gap is usually a positive or negative percentage.
Positive percentage:
- women earn less than men in pay or bonuses
- example: a 5% gender pay gap means women are paid 5% less than men
Negative percentage:
- women earn more than men in pay or bonuses
- example: a -5% gender pay gap means women are paid 5% more than men
Mean and median
The gender pay gap is shown as both median and mean (average).
Median:
- the middle figure when hourly pay is arranged in order from highest to lowest
- shows the ‘typical’ situation
- not distorted by very high or low figures
- may hide specific gender pay gap issues
Mean (average):
- total hourly pay of all employees divided by the number of people in the group
- gives a good overall indication of the gender pay gap
- can be distorted by very high or low hourly pay
Pay quarters
Pay quarters show the percentage of men and women in 4 equally-sized groups based on their hourly pay. They indicate how women are represented at different levels of the organisation.
PDF document
Click the link below to view or download our gender pay gap report:
Please bear with us as we make this document as accessible as possible.
If you use assistive technology such as a screen reader and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email us at [email protected]