The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called on its members to take three steps to show support for its campaign against the Government’s proposed 1% pay rise for NHS staff.
It argues the 1% value doesn’t appropriately reimburse staff for their efforts during the pandemic.
They called on members to actively campaign against the pay rise, engage with online efforts and ensure people’s details are up to date on their MyRCN platform, particularly one’s employer and workplace details, so that they may be free to be contacted in the future.
Submitting written evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) last week, the RCN is demanding a more substantial pay rise for staff.
As part of its Fair Pay for Nursing campaign, the RCN calls for a fully-funded 12.5% pay increase for all nursing staff covered by the Agenda for Change terms, as part of a one-year deal which applies equally to all bands.
RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dame Donna Kinnair said: “The Prime Minister says he is hearing NHS staff but he clearly is not listening. He was more than happy to clap for hardworking NHS staff when the photographers were ready.
“Now is the time to back us.
“We want the same thing: more nurses which means better, safer patient care.
“But the only way we’ll get there is through fair pay so more people are attracted to our profession, and more experienced workers will stay in the jobs they love.”
The RCN also submitted evidence to the NHS PRB in January, which made recommendations to ministers on pay for NHS staff, explaining why nursing staff deserve the 12.5% rise, its affordability and stressed the links between fair pay, recruitment, retention and safe staffing.
