RCN submits evidence for pay demand to review body

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called for a pay rise in line with inflation plus an £800 flat rate increase for all staff on Agenda for Change contracts in its submission to the NHS pay review body (PRB).

This is to make up for lost earnings over the past seven years, during which time nursing pay fell 14 per cent behind the cost of living.

The RCN warns pay restraint has left nursing staff feeling resentful and demoralised, resulting in major nursing shortages.

Unless staff are given a fair pay award, the exodus of staff will continue, the college argues.

It adds that nursing will become less and less attractive as a career if pay does not increase.

The official submission to the PRB draws on evidence from the RCN’s recent employment survey which showed that 24 per cent of nursing staff are thinking of leaving their job due to financial worry.

This pressure is having a negative effect on patient care, with the survey too showing that nearly 80 per cent of nursing staff feel their staffing levels at their place of work are insufficient to meet patient demand.

Janet Davies, RCN chief executive, said: “The NHS has been running on the goodwill of nursing and other staff for far too long. This goodwill cannot last indefinitely, and we look to the pay review body to make a recommendation which both acknowledges the sacrifices made by NHS staff, and the economic necessity of a meaningful pay rise.

“With at least 40,000 nursing posts currently vacant in England alone, the NHS cannot afford to haemorrhage any more nursing staff.”