The Prime Minister must urgently negotiate with nurses in England after the Welsh government joined Scotland in formally reopening the NHS pay award for the current financial year, the Royal College of Nursing says.
The RCN today cancelled planned strike action in Wales for Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 February after negotiations with unions resulted in a new NHS pay offer from the Welsh government for 2022-23.
The offer of an additional three per cent will be put to a vote of RCN members within days.
The announcement leaves Westminster as the only government refusing to reconsider the impact of current NHS pay levels and rejecting negotiations that would avert strike action.
The RCN will escalate its strike action in England next week, with action at 73 NHS trusts compared to 44 in December and 55 in January.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen, said:
“If the other governments can negotiate and find more money for this year, the Prime Minister can do the same. Rishi Sunak has no place left to hide. His unwillingness to help nursing is being exposed as a personal choice, not an economic necessity.
“Again, we are making good on our commitment to cancel strikes when ministers negotiate and make pay offers to our members. First in Scotland and now in Wales too.
“If the Prime Minister decides to leave England’s nurses as the lowest paid in the UK, he must expect this strike to continue. He can still turn things around before Monday – start talking seriously and the strikes are off.”
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Notes to Editors
A list of the NHS employers which are due to see strike action in England next week, including the location of picket lines, can be found here.
Researchers at London Economics, commissioned by the RCN, looked at the pay awards that NHS Agenda for Change nursing staff have been given in the UK since 2010. They found that in real terms, the salary of an experienced nurse has fallen by 20% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 16% in Scotland.
They also found that the Exchequer would recoup 81% of the initial outlay in terms of higher tax receipts and savings on future recruitment and retention costs. The report can be found here.
