You've clapped, now support our call for a fair pay rise - nursing union
People in the Black Country are being urged to revive the spirit of the Thursday night clap for the NHS by calling on their MP to support a fair pay rise for nursing staff.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the UK’s largest professional nursing union, says nurses’ wages have fallen by 12.6 per cent in real terms over the past decade due to the Government capping or freezing their pay.
The college says many nurses are feeling undervalued and thinking of leaving the profession at a time when health and social care services can ill afford the serious shortage of staff to worsen and put the quality and safety of patient care at greater risk.
Across the Midlands alone, there are more than 8,000 vacancies for registered nurses in NHS provider trusts – around one in every nine posts – according to the most recent published figures.
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By visiting the RCN website – rcn.org.uk - members of the public can customise and send a message by email to their MP, asking them to back a fair pay claim for nursing staff.
Mark Butler, a mental health nurse and chair of the RCN’s West Midlands Board, said: “As nurses and health care workers, we were delighted and humbled by the appreciation shown towards us by the Black Country public in their thousands during the Thursday night clap.
“This is an opportunity for them to express that powerful sentiment again but this time by taking a few moments to send a resounding message to their MP that nursing staff deserve nothing less than a decent pay rise.”
The Government’s one-year spending review will prioritise the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, in which nursing staff continue to play a vital role.
Mr Butler added: “Even though nursing staff are tackling a global pandemic in the face of a serious and persistent workforce shortage, the Government continues to undervalue them. It can’t hope to fill thousands of vacancies and protect high standards of patient care whilst suppressing staff pay.
“We are not asking for a Covid-19 bonus. Paying nursing staff fairly for their highly-skilled, highly-dedicated and highly-acclaimed work is a political choice.
“Hospitals and other health services can’t increase pay for their staff from their existing budgets, so the Chancellor must make the right decision and deliver a fully-funded, meaningful pay award.”
