Nurses enter pay review with ‘good grace’ but are ‘not afraid to strike’
Nurses have entered into a pay review with “good grace” but are “not afraid to strike” in the future, the boss of the profession’s union has said.
There could also be targeted action at NHS trusts who do not uplift band five nurses fairly, Professor Nicola Ranger said.
The general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) described the Government’s commitment to review every band five nursing role in England as the “best opportunity to elevate nursing in decades”.
A band five nurse is an entry-level role for newly qualified registered nurses under the NHS Agenda for Change pay system.
However, the RCN claims that some staff spend decades, and sometimes their whole careers, at band five, despite working at a higher level in terms of skills and responsibility.
In February, it was announced that all band five nurses are eligible for review and the move could mean a hike in pay, with the Government providing funding to employers to cover salary increases.
Prof Ranger told the Press Association the RCN is waiting for the “final plan” on how the scheme will be rolled out, but is expecting it in the coming weeks.
“We will be pushing this to be done well, but in a systematic way, and we will be part of the overall scrutiny as to how each employer is doing with the process.
“So we’re hoping that we’ll be starting this summer.”
Prof Ranger stressed that nursing is the “absolute backbone of this country” amid external challenges such as the cost of living, and global issues such as the war in Iran.
“This scheme is going to have to continue to stay on track,” she told PA.
“We were assured it was not about affordability, but about recognising what was right, because the evidence is absolutely clear that nurses are weighted to the bottom of the pay scale.
“Whilst I recognise that finances are more challenging, we do not expect in any way for this scheme to be undermined by those challenges.”
She said that the RCN will be “absolutely clear and unapologetic” in holding employers to account, which could mean targeted strikes at “outlier” NHS trusts.
“We expect our profession to be sitting at a band six,” Prof Ranger said.
“We expect a period of consolidation… but we want the staff nurse role to sit as a band six. We will be looking at the evidence.
“We know that those band five nurses that have been through a similar process in Scotland, 80% of them have got up to a band six.
“Therefore, we have in our minds what that conversion rate should be.
“If we’ve got one trust getting 75-80% of their nurses through, and another trust puts 5% through, and we can start seeing the outliers, we will be absolutely clear and unapologetic in holding those employers to account.
“This is the best opportunity nursing has had for decades, because this money is not going to be coming from those organisations’ budget, it is going to be coming from the Government.
“So, this is the first time that we can start to elevate nursing, and it’s not for the trust to worry where the money comes from, that’s for the Government to agree and sort out, and it’s for the trust to be fair to their nurses, simple as that.
“And we are going to be very bold and strong on that, and if they don’t, we will take action against them.”
Asked if there is an appetite among members for a ballot on industrial action, Prof Ranger told PA: “Not at this moment, we have to go into this scheme with good grace.
“In fairness to the previous health secretary, this is a scheme that he has personally supported, and the part of this was to stop us going on the picket lines.
“We’ve come up with a scheme where the first time nursing is singled out, therefore we want to give it a chance.
“Both the NHS, the Department of Health, and us have to enter this with good faith, that is the spirit in which we will be starting this, and I very, very much hope that doesn’t come to that.
“No one wants to lose a day’s pay, and the last thing patients want is more disruption.
“But we need to be really, really clear, we are deciding and agreeing to do that, but that does not mean that we are afraid to strike.
“We just don’t want to at this moment in time, because we want to give this scheme a chance and enter in this in good faith.”
Prof Ranger said new Health Secretary James Murray has a “tough challenge” ahead but “will fail” if he does not value nursing.
“I very much hope that this health secretary will continue and be relentless in the progress that needs… But if he doesn’t value nursing he will fail.”
A Department of Health and Social spokesperson said: “Nurses are the backbone of our NHS and deserve to be properly recognised for the vital work they do.
“A nurse entering the profession today receives 18.6% more in basic pay than 4 years ago, and this government has introduced a package of measures to transform the nursing profession and make sure nurses get the pay and support they deserve.
“This includes boosting access to jobs for nursing graduates, prioritising increasing graduate pay, reviewing the roles and pay bands for every band 5 nurse and establishing a national nursing preceptorship to create a national framework to support newly qualified nurses.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub