Royal College of Nursing overwhelmingly accepts Government’s three-year pay deal

Published: 06 June 2008

UNDER EMBARGO
00.01 Friday, 6 June 2008

The Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) members have shown they overwhelmingly support the Government’s pay deal worth 7.99 per cent over three years.

Members were consulted on the proposed deal through the RCN’s extensive regional branch network and the RCN’s website between 21 April and 28 May 2008.

The result of the consultation showed 92.7% were in favour of the deal.

Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing said: “We’re one of the largest unions representing NHS workers and we recommended this deal to our members because it’s fair, balanced and it’s the best deal in the public sector.

“We worked hard to negotiate this deal for our members and it’s clear from their response they want us to accept it. Some of our lowest paid members – healthcare assistants and newly qualified nurses will be better off with a pay deal that is worth between 14% and 16%.

“We have secured a commitment to re-open pay talks should inflation continue to rise or if there are significant changes to the labour market – a clause which is very important to our members.

“We have secured a pivotal role for the independent pay review body to monitor the economic situation and we will hold the government to their commitment.

“This deal remains the best deal in the public sector and members taking part in our consultation agreed with us. We can now move forward to get this year’s pay award into members’ pockets as soon as possible.”

Further information on the agreement can be found at www.rcn.org.uk/payproposals

Examples of impact of proposed changes on nurses’ pay:
A nurse on band 5 spine point 20 with a salary of £21,494.00 this year (07/08) will be on 24,553.29 by 2010-11. This is an increase of 14 percent over the three years of the proposed deal.

A healthcare assistant on band 2 or 3 on spine point 7 with a salary of £14,437.00 in 07/08 will be on £16,753.00 by 2010 – 2011. This is an increase of 16 percent over the three years of the proposed deal.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors

For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/news/mediacentre.php

Under the proposed multi-year agreement made between the RCN, Unison, NHS Employers and the Department of Health, a 2.75 percent pay award to NHS staff is proposed in 2008/09, with 2.4 percent proposed in 2009/10 and 2.25 percent in 2010/11. It is proposed that a further 0.59 percent is made up by making changes to incremental points to staff employed in bands 1, 5 and 6, making the total package under consideration worth 7.99 percent.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.