Responding to the latest pay award for NHS nursing staff in England announced by government today, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: 

“This pay award is entirely swallowed up by inflation and does nothing to change the status quo – where nursing is not valued, too few enter it and too many quit. It is a grotesque decision to again favour doctor colleagues for higher increases than nursing and the rest of the NHS. Starting salaries for nursing staff remain too low.

“Nursing staff have suffered 15 years of pay erosion and this award is symptomatic of a broken system which erodes our pay each year and keeps nursing staff weighted to the bottom. Now, hundreds of thousands of our members in the NHS will be given a vote on this award. They will ultimately decide if it is enough and whether they feel valued.

“Agenda for Change is out of date and a barrier to the government’s own NHS reforms. It stops progression, trapping nursing staff at the same pay band their entire careers despite decades of experience. Only through proper pay and career reform can the government show it values nursing as the highly-skilled, safety critical profession it is today. Higher starting salaries and paths to progression are how we fill tens of thousands of vacancies and ensure patients get the best care.

“By attaching themselves to a failed pay review body process and refusing to enter direct talks with unions, ministers ignored the nurse workforce crisis and charted the course for it to deepen.”

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