The RCN launching a campaign asking nursing staff and public supporters to begin lobbying their MPs to ask the Chancellor to invest in the profession in the upcoming spending review.
This is the latest action as part of the RCN campaign for fair pay for all nursing staff. It comes as the Chancellor confirmed a one-year spending review that would include a fully funded, multi-year NHS settlement. The organisation is calling for a fully funded investment for a 12.5% pay increase for all nursing staff across all pay bands.
‘Even though nursing staff have tackled a global pandemic with 50,000 nursing vacancies across the UK, the Government continues to undervalue them. It can’t hope to fill staffing shortages with our current poor pay levels,’ said RCN Chief Executive and General Secretary Dame Donna Kinnair. ‘Next month, the Government can right a historic wrong and show nurses they truly are valued.’
The RCN wants MPs to write to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and set out how an investment in nursing staff would benefit hard-working professionals in their area, their patients and local communities. More information on how nurses can lobby their MPs can be found here.
‘We are not asking for a COVID-19 bonus – paying nursing fairly is a political choice,’ added Dame Donna. ‘Cash-strapped health services can’t increase pay on their existing budgets. The Chancellor must make the right decision.’