Our fight for fair pay in independent health and social care
We campaign for all our members to receive fair pay, no matter what setting or sector you’re employed in.
With the salaries of nursing professionals consistently falling below inflation, and the cost of living crisis only adding to the strain, significant pay rises are long overdue across the health and care system.
We’ve been balloting members and negotiating on your behalf with a range of independent health and social care (IHSC) employers. Explore our campaign timeline to find out more.
Demanding better pay for all: A timeline
February 2024 - Manx Care
Members on the Isle of Man voted to accept a 6% pay offer for 2023-24 from employer Manx Care. Of those who voted, 75% of members chose to accept pay offer, with 25% voting to reject.August 2023 - Care Quality Commission
Our members employed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) voted to accept their latest 2022-23 pay award. This brought an end to ongoing industrial action at the CQC.July 2023 - Care Plus Group
Our members employed by the Care Plus Group (CPG) voted in a ballot on strike action for better pay and parity with nursing staff employed by the NHS on Agenda for Change terms and conditions. 93% of those who responded voted in favour of strike action.June 2023 - Manx Care
Our members employed by Manx Care voted in a ballot on strike action and a survey on the employer's latest pay offer. 80% of members who responded to the ballot voted in favour of strike action, while 73% of members who responded to the survey voted to reject the offer. Read the full results here.April 2023 - Care Quality Commission
Our members employed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) began continuous industrial action short of strike on 17 April.April 2023 - Four Seasons Health Care/brighterkind
Our members employed by Four Seasons Health Care/brighterkind voted in a consultative ballot on the employer's proposed 2023-24 pay offer. Almost three quarters of eligible members who voted chose to accept the offer.March 2023 - Care Quality Commission
Our members employed by Care Quality Commission (CQC) voted in favour of both action short of strike and strike action.January 2023 - Marie Curie
Our members employed by Marie Curie voted in a consultative ballot on the employer's updated pay offer. The ballot ran from 15 December 2022 to 4 January 2023. 39.5% of eligible members took part in the ballot, with 60% of those members voting to reject the revised offer.September 2022 - The States of Guernsey
Our members on Guernsey voted to reject the three year pay deal offered to them by The States. In a second question asking if they would be prepared to undertake industrial action and/or action short of strike – members also voted to say yes, they would.August 2022 - Marie Curie
We surveyed our members employed by Marie Curie and resumed negotiations with the employer seeking to improve the offer members rejected in July.July 2022 - Manx Care
Our members on the Isle of Man took part in a ballot on the most recent pay offer by Manx Care, with 83.1% of respondents voting that the pay award was unacceptable. In an additional indicative question, 55.5% of respondents said that they would be willing to take industrial action.July 2022 - Care Quality Commission
Together with the three other unions recognised by Care Quality Commission (CQC), we submitted a joint pay claim on behalf of all CQC employees seeking a 2022 pay uplift of 5% above inflation.July 2022 - Marie Curie
Our members employed by Marie Curie voted 52 to 48 to reject the employer’s latest offer in a consultative ballot. The employer’s offer for most members would have met our ask of aligning pay and most terms and conditions with NHS Agenda for Change, however the employer also wanted to reduce members’ sick pay entitlement in return.June 2022 - CareTech Coveberry
Our members employed by CareTech Coveberry voted in a consultative ballot to accept a pay offer worth an average of 6.1%.June 2022 - The Huntercombe Group
Our members employed by The Huntercombe Group voted in a consultative ballot to reject a pay offer of 2% for care support workers and 3% for nurses.June 2022 - Four Seasons Health Care/brighterkind
Our members employed by Four Seasons Health Care, including those employed by brighterkind, voted in a consultative ballot to reject a pay offer worth an average of 4%. Following negotiations to attempt to improve this offer, it was subsequently imposed by the employer.May 2022 - Care Quality Commission
We conducted a survey of members employed by Care Quality Commission to gather evidence for a 2022 pay claim.April 2022 - Sue Ryder
Sue Ryder consulted with employees over proposals to introduce new pay scales and to harmonise unsocial hours and overtime rates. We conducted a survey of affected members to inform our consultation response. Our survey found that most members were dissatisfied with the proposals. The employer went ahead with introducing most of the changes but made some improvements to their proposals based on our survey's findings.January 2022 - Four Seasons Healthcare, brighterkind, Huntercombe and CareTech Coveberry
We surveyed our members employed by Four Seasons Healthcare, brighterkind, Huntercombe and CareTech Coveberry to gather information to prepare 2022 pay claims for members working for these employers.Nursing across independent health and social care
We’re here to support all our members, no matter what sector or setting you’re employed in.
Access our collection of resources and guides on nursing across independent health and social care.
Pay, terms and conditions in independent health and social care employers
Advice on starting a conversation between nursing staff and employers about fair pay, terms and conditions
