RCN demands 12.5 per cent pay rise for nursing staff

The Royal College of Nursing has launched the Fair Pay for Nursing campaign to demand a 12.5 per cent pay rise for nursing staff across the UK.

The campaign seeks to secure a fully funded 12.5 per cent pay increase for all staff covered by Agenda for Change, as part of a one-year deal that applies equally to all bands. The RCN says the pay rise is needed to: provide safe and effective patient care for all people of the UK by addressing the staffing crisis within nursing; recognise the skill, accountability and expertise of a safety critical profession; and recognise that the salaries of nursing staff have not kept pace with increases in the cost of living.

Though the initial focus is on an immediate pay rise for NHS nursing staff, the campaign also seeks to benefit those working for independent employers, demonstrating the urgent need for them to be treated equally and fairly to their NHS nursing colleagues.

Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN chief executive, said: “The Fair Pay for Nursing campaign is about recognising the skill, experience and responsibility demonstrated every day, in every year, by nursing support workers, nursing associates, registered nurses and all members of the profession. This is about more than the profession’s response to Covid-19 – it is about increasing the attractiveness of the profession, to fill tens of thousands of unfilled nursing jobs and reach safe staffing levels. It is time to pay nursing staff fairly.”