Nurses force Trust into bank U-turn

In May, some Trusts in Kent decided to “harmonise” bank rates which led to a reduction in the hourly rate across the board.

In an RCN survey, more than 1,000 nurses expressed their frustration at the cuts with one saying:

“It is a great insult to our skills and training. We are a highly qualified profession, with so many skills. We continue to train and adapt our skills throughout our careers. And we could earn more or just as much working in hospitality and retail which would be much less stressful and much less demoralising. There are currently no benefits to working within the NHS. Everyone has been taken from us only leaving pressure, stress, exhaustion and now less money in our pockets. The trusts should be ashamed of themselves.”

Now Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust have written to nurses, health care support workers, emergency practitioners and advanced practitioners in the Emergency Departments saying that a specialist bank rate will be introduced in response to “staffing pressures and service requirements.”

Cess Wigley, Royal College of Nursing Senior Regional Officer for Kent says:

"This is a step in the right direction. Although it doesn’t fully address the cuts to bank pay, it does address the most pressing need in the emergency departments. although nurses in other departments are still left out of pocket for the additional shifts they are covering.

“We hope that the neighbouring Trusts will learn from this and look to reverse the changes they implemented. It’s fantastic that members were able to recognise their worth and not take on bank shifts at the reduced rate which appears to have led to this decision by the Trust.”