News

NHS pay: warning over ‘summer of action’ planned in protest at 3% award

Nurses being urged to support calls for ministers to find extra cash 

Nurses being urged to support RCN’s bid to put pressure on ministers over health service pay rises

Marchers demand better pay for nurses during a demonstration through London to Downing Street on 3 July Picture: Belinda Jlao/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Nurses are poised for what is being billed a ‘summer of action’ in protest at the 3% NHS pay rise award in England and Wales.

The pay announcements made last week by the Westminster and Cardiff governments for staff on Agenda for Change contracts falls far short of the 12.5% the RCN is demanding.

‘Ignoring the voice of nursing is ignoring the voice of patients’

The college has revealed a programme of activities, including demonstrations and a virtual rally, in the run-up to its annual congress in Liverpool in September.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said the 3% offer will not be enough to prevent an exodus of exhausted NHS nursing staff.

She said: ‘Today we’ve launched a summer of action to ensure our colleagues, patients, the public and politicians know the campaign won’t stop until nursing is respected and protected.

‘If ministers ignore the voice of nursing, they ignore the voice of patients – and that is something we, as nurses, will never allow.’

In May, the Scottish Government announced it was giving most health service nurses a 4% pay rise, although the RCN has begun formal dispute proceedings in a push for more. Nurses in Northern Ireland have not yet heard from their government.

Interactive guide of the UK-wide RCN ‘summer of action’

Ballot to gauge nurses’ views on whether to push for more than 3%

The RCN will hold a ballot in the next month to gauge members’ views on whether they are prepared to accept the much-delayed 3% offer or not. These views will shape the college’s approach to the issue, which might include asking members to take part in a further ballot to indicate whether there is support for industrial action.

Unison will begin consulting its NHS members later this week on whether they accept the rise, or would be prepared to take industrial action.


In other news

Jobs