If you're an RCN member working in Southampton or the Isle of Wight, you're automatically a member of our Southampton and Isle of Wight branch. Welcome to your nursing community.

Our branch includes members working at NHS, independent, higher education and care home employers, as well as students.

Getting involved in our branch means more than attending meetings. Whether you’re organising for better conditions, supporting a colleague or pushing for systemic change, your involvement helps turn shared concerns into collective action.

What work has been done so far to try and reverse the decision to remove the specialist bank rates?

• 499 staff spoke out in our survey 
• 270 members joined a collective grievance 
• 152 letters have been sent to local MPs 
• 350 staff signed a joint letter of support 
• MPs have contacted the Trust in support of members 
• 50 members lobbied UHS Trust Board 
• 282 specialist staff have worn badges at work in support of the campaign 
• Some staff have refused to pick up additional bank shifts leading to the Trust having to reschedule operations 
• Responses to the NHS staff survey results at UHS that show UHS's rankings have plummeted compared to other Trusts in the South East 
• Issue highlighted in the media

We have now exhausted all of the internal procedures available to us at UHS. The next step would be to go to ACAS, the Government's conciliator that helps resolve disputes between employers and unions. To make this a meaningful and productive meeting, we need to demonstrate that our specialist nursing members want the enhanced bank pay reinstated.  

An indicative ballot is being planned to give members their say on the next steps.

We can only ask members who work in the specialist areas to vote in this ballot so we need you to tell us if this affects you. For the purposes of this ballot specialist nurses are those who work in Cancer Care (Chemotherapy), Cardiac Ward, Child Health, Critical Care, Emergency Department, Endoscopy, High Dependency Unit (HDU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Theatres. 

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