Nurses urged to lobby MPs to attend NHS pay debate
Posted 18 January 2017 - 10:25
A parliamentary debate on scrapping a 1% NHS pay cap is set for 30 January – and nurses are being urged to lobby their local MPs to take part.
Nursing Standard reported yesterday how a petition against the 1% cap had passed 100,000 signatures, triggering a house of commons debate.
The online petition, started by community nurse Danielle Tiplady, argues that Agenda for Change staff have experienced pay restraint since 2010 and have lost about 14% of their pay in real terms.
Encouragement
The debate will be led by Labour MP for Newcastle North Catherine McKinnell, and the RCN has said it will be providing members with materials to promote the debate, and to encourage MPs to attend.
Last night Ms Tiplady posted on Twitter: ‘Can’t stop smiling at the prospect of
A parliamentary debate on scrapping a 1% NHS pay cap is set for 30 January – and nurses are being urged to lobby their local MPs to take part.
Nursing Standard reported yesterday how a petition against the 1% cap had passed 100,000 signatures, triggering a house of commons debate.
The online petition, started by community nurse Danielle Tiplady, argues that Agenda for Change staff have experienced pay restraint since 2010 and have lost about 14% of their pay in real terms.
Encouragement
The debate will be led by Labour MP for Newcastle North Catherine McKinnell, and the RCN has said it will be providing members with materials to promote the debate, and to encourage MPs to attend.
Last night Ms Tiplady posted on Twitter: ‘Can’t stop smiling at the prospect of our petition being debated. #ScrapTheCap.'
Other nurses also took to social media to urge people to lobby their MPs.
Nurse Ngaire Cox tweeted: ‘Make sure you lobby your MP to ensure they attend the debate’, while chair of the RCN steward’s committee Graham Revie added: ‘Time to lobby #scrapthecap needs all opposition and sympathetic Tory MPs to be mobilised.’
'Crucial' control
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has previously signalled that the pay restraint is set to continue for the 2017-2018 pay award, calling it a ‘crucial’ part of government plans to control public finances.
In September, health unions urged the NHS Pay Review Body (RB), which advises the government on NHS staff pay, to recommend a meaningful pay rise for NHS workers for the 2017-18 pay round.
The RB is expected to submit its report to ministers by the end of February.
Members of the public can apply to watch the debate in the public gallery, and proceedings will also be screened live via Parliament TV.
The petition can still be signed here
In other news
Sign up to continue reading for FREE
Unlock full access to RCNi Plus today
Save over 50% on your first three months:
- Customisable clinical dashboard featuring 200+ topics
- Unlimited online access to all 10 RCNi Journals including Nursing Older People
- RCNi Learning featuring 180+ RCN accredited learning modules
- NMC-compliant RCNi Portfolio to build evidence for revalidation
- Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
This article is not available as part of an institutional subscription. Why is this?
