Sulis Hospital Bath Gender Pay Gap Report 2023
Background
As an organisation employing more than 250 staff Sulis Hospital Bath is required under the Equality Act 2010, to publish information on its gender pay audit.
Sulis Hospital Bath was previously owned by Circle Health Group as Circle Hospital Bath and purchased, by the Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) in June 2021. Sulis Hospital Bath is a private limited company and operates as a separate business entity from the RUH and therefore reports its own gender pay gap figures.
The data presented here forms a snapshot as of 31 March 2023. This report sets out the gender pay results in comparison to the snapshot for the same month in 2022, alongside key findings and actions for Sulis to address its gender pay gap.
Gender pay gap in context
The gender pay gap is a measure of a difference in the pay (converted to an hourly rate) for male and female employees across Sulis, regardless of the nature or level of their work. It is fundamentally different from equal pay, which involves a direct comparison of two people or groups of people to ensure that they are paid comparably for work of comparable value.
Our results - 31st March 2023 snapshot
Whilst an independent healthcare organisation, Sulis’ female/male split is like the NHS with 82% of our workforce female and 18% male. Female employees outnumber male employees at all levels of the organisation; however, the percentage difference between females and males reduces in the higher pay quartiles 3 and 4.
Table 1 illustrates the overall female/male split in 2023 compared to 2022.
Table 2 illustrates the gender distribution within each pay quartile for Sulis in 2024 and Table 3 shows this in comparison to 2023 and 2022. Quarter 1 represents the quarter of the workforce with the lowest hourly rate and Quarter 4 the quarter of the workforce with the highest hourly rate.
Table 1 – Overall female/male split
| 2022 | 2022 | 2022% | 2023 | 2023% |
| Female | 221 | 80.66 | 258 | 81.64 |
| Male | 53 | 19.34 | 58 | 18.36 |
| Total workforce | 274 | 100% | 316 | 100% |
Table 2 – 2024 Gender Distribution by Quartile
Table 3 – Percentage of male and female staff employed by quartile
| Quartile | 2022 Female % | 2022 Male % | 2023 Female % | 2023 Male % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Lower | 86.76 | 13.24 | 85.71 | 14.29 |
| 2 Lower Middle | 86.96 | 13.04 | 88.89 | 11.11 |
| 3 Upper Middle | 75 | 25 | 80.26 | 19.74 |
| 4 Upper | 73.91 | 26.09 | 71.95 | 28.05 |
| Total workforce | 80.66 | 19.34 | 81.64 | 18.36 |
Table 3 shows the following trends since 2022:
- Quartile 1 – reduction in females by 5.5%
- Quartile 2 – increase in females by 2%
- Quartile 3 – increase in females by 6%
- Quartile 4 – little change
Even though Quartiles 1, 2 and 3 remain overwhelmingly female, the small shift of females from Quartile 1 into Quartiles 2 and 3 will positively reflect on the gender pay gap.
Gender pay gap as a Mean Average
What is the 'Mean'?
The mean is the average hourly wage. It is calculated by adding up all the pay of all male employees and dividing it by the number of male employees. The same is then done for all the female employees.
The mean gender gap is the difference between the average hourly earnings of male full-pay employees and female full-pay employees.
| Gender | Mean Hourly Rate 2022 | Mean Hourly Rate 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Male | £19.55 | £20.10 |
| Female | £16.68 | £16.59 |
| Difference | £2.87 | £3.51 |
| Pay Gap % | 14.70% | 17.32% |
On average Sulis male employees earn £3.51 per hour more than female employees, a pay gap of 17.32%. This is an increase of 2.62% from 2022's pay gap.
Gender pay gap as a Median Average
What is the 'Median'?
The median pay gap is the difference between the midpoints in the ranges of hourly earnings of male and female employees. It takes all salaries in the sample, lines them up in order from lowest to highest, and picks the middle salary.
| Gender | Median Hourly Rate 2022 | Median Hourly Rate 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Male | £16.85 | £18.15 |
Female | £11.98 | £12.74 |
| Difference | £4.87 | £5.41 |
| Pay Gap % | 28.92% | 29.81% |
On average Sulis male employees earn £5.41 per hour more than female employees, a pay gap of 29.81%. This is an increase of 0.89% from 2022's pay gap.
Bonus gender pay gap as mean and median average
Sulis operates two discrete bonus schemes for employees only:
1. Refer a Friend bonus scheme for employed roles
2. Recruitment and retention bonus scheme to attract and retain employed registered staff.
6.71% of female employees received a bonus and 10.94% of male employees.
The mean bonus gap was 67.36% and the median bonus gap 40%.
The gaps can be attributed to the greater number of men referring other men into employed roles, compared to last year, and the significant increase in men being recruited into senior clinical roles across Theatres and Radiology.
Key findings and actions
As with 2022’s report the increased number of men in the higher pay quartiles is the key factor driving Sulis’ gender pay gap. In common with many healthcare and other organisations more men fill middle and senior clinical and management roles compared to the proportionate number of men in administrative, health care support worker, and other junior level support services roles.
Whilst Sulis’ current pay strategy of increasing hourly rates to meet the Real Living Wage may have helped to offset the gap (as more female staff than male staff will benefit from an increase in hourly rate), the increased number men in more senior clinical has resulted in the gap increasing year on year.
Sulis remains committed to reducing barriers to female employees moving into more middle and senior clinical and management roles and supports flexible, including part time, working at all levels in the organisation.
Simon Milner
Hospital Director
4th April 2024