NHS nurses demand ‘a number of thousand kilos’ in pay rise to cease extra strikes
Nurses are demanding a “several thousands pounds” additional pay this yr amid hypothesis they might be again on strike as early because the spring.
The RCN now makes its formal submission to the NHS Pay Review Body for 2024/25 originally of a five-day strike by junior docs. The Mirror can reveal the Royal College of Nursing’s key calls for of a lump sum on prime of a “substantial” above inflation pay rise to sort out the NHS workforce disaster.
Nurses have been left livid after they obtained round half the pay subsequently supplied to docs final yr. Their 5% NHS pay rise was rejected in an RCN poll however the below-inflation award for the 2023/24 monetary yr was imposed by the Government.
It adopted a sequence of strikes by nurses final yr however a second RCN poll for a mandate to proceed strikes didn’t meet the 50% turnout threshold required by regulation. The calls for comes because the Tories refuse to barter with placing docs and improve the prospect of crippling NHS strikes escalating all through the General Election yr whereas the well being service struggles with document ready occasions.
Professor Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary, stated: “The crisis in the nursing workforce deepens each day as thousands of experienced staff decide to leave the NHS, fed up with being undervalued and underpaid. The lesson for the government and politicians everywhere is that failing to deliver pay justice for nursing staff has consequences. Only decisive action can now help stem the loss of staff and protect patients.”
The 5% pay rise the majority of the NHS workforce was pressured to simply accept final yr left the RCN management bruised. The British Medical Association maintained help amongst its junior physician and marketing consultant members for strike motion of the pay for 2023/24. Junior docs begin a strike at 7am on Saturday till the top of Wednesday.
Junior docs have been supplied a 3% rise on prime of the typical 8.8% improve they got in the summertime. The BMA stays on strike arguing that junior docs need a dedication – over quite a few years – to extend pay by 26% to return it to the identical actual phrases pay charges from 2008. An identical deal has been granted to docs in Scotland by the devolved authorities there.
Consultants additionally stay in industrial dispute with the Government after rejecting a deal that might have given them an additional 4.95% pay rise on common for the final three months of 2023/24 monetary yr on prime of the 6% award for the yr that they’ve already obtained.
Nurses stay technically in dispute with the Government however would wish a recent poll to realize a mandate for extra strikes. The RCN says latest analysis amongst its members “demonstrated a strong appetite amongst members to take industrial action if required”. The RCN insists solely a bumper above-inflation pay deal will stem the exodus of its senior employees from the NHS. In England 42,000 nursing posts are presently unfilled.
Prof Cullen stated: “When nursing professionals with the greatest clinical experience leave the profession, patient care ultimately suffers. An additional top-up payment worth several thousand pounds would recognise the crisis gripping the nursing workforce. It is a quick and effective measure that can alleviate some of the dissatisfaction with pay, terms and conditions felt by staff after years of neglect. The policy is a no-brainer for ministers.”
The RCN can also be calling on the PRB to advocate measures together with computerized development from band 5 to band 6 that’s already obtainable to different NHS employees, to create higher long-term profession prospects for the nursing workforce. In its formal submission the RCN confirmed it stays in dispute with Government.
