RCN says pay award for nurses is insulting 

Commenting on the Welsh Government’s announcement of at least £1,400 (equivalent 4% uplift) pay award for NHS Wales nursing staff, 

Helen Whyley, Director of the Royal College of Nursing Wales, said: 

“Nurses will be outraged to hear the pay award is well below inflation yet again. This will do nothing to fill over 1719 vacancies for registered nurses in NHS Wales. It won’t encourage nurses to stay in nursing and it won’t inspire future generations to join them.” 

“It is our most vulnerable people who risk feeling the impact. Research shows that where there are lower numbers of nurses, patients are up to 26% more likely to die. Conversely, a 10% rise in the number of degree-educated nurses is associated with a 7% reduction in patient mortality.”

“Yet again this pitiful and insulting pay announcement does not even come close to making up for the fall in value of nursing pay, compared with a decade ago.”

“A recent YouGov Poll in Wales showed 85% of the public support a pay rise for nurses.”

There are at least 1,719 registered nurse vacancies in NHS Wales. The £133.4m the Welsh Government spent on agency nursing and midwifery last financial year would pay the salaries of 5,119 newly qualified nurses.

Helen Whyley added: “Instead of holding the NHS together with the world’s most expensive sticking plaster, the Welsh Government should reward nurses with the pay they deserve. Not only can the Welsh Government afford to pay nurses fairly – it can’t afford not to.”

“By May 2021, the Welsh Government had received £2.6 billion in Covid-19 funding for day-to-day spending, a further £314 million at the autumn spending review. That December, it announced an extra £1.3 billion in NHS Wales funding over the next three years, and the Wales Governance Centre estimated £505 million of the Covid-19 funding remained available for the rest of the financial year.” 

“Nurses stay in the profession because they love their work. But this is a slap in the face for a nursing workforce that is stressed, devalued, and exhausted. Their continued goodwill to prop up the NHS isn’t just waning it is disappearing, and many are leaving the profession they love. By no means is this a done deal. We will be consulting with our 26,000 members in Wales about the next steps the RCN will be taking.”

Richard Jones MBE, RCN Wales Board Chair, RCN Council member for Wales, said:

“Today’s pay award will fail to recruit or retain the nursing staff our NHS in Wales desperately needs and certainly will do nothing to keep patients safe. Nursing staff face unrelenting pressures resulting in burnout across the board, greater sickness absences and a mass exodus of highly experienced and dedicated staff.

“We need a pay award that comfortably sits above the rate of inflation, currently at 11.7%, to keep up with the sky-rocketing cost of living, whilst also reflecting the highly skilled, safety-critical profession of our members and nursing staff in Wales.

“No one enters the profession of nursing to become a millionaire, they join for a highly reputable and fulfilling career. However, seeing other nurses with no escape from unsustainable stress in both their work and personal lives does nothing to encourage recruitment and retention of nurses. Nurses spend their days giving everything they have to their patients, only to return home in some cases to rely on food banks to sustain themselves and their families, this is shocking and unacceptable.

“Members will be asked to please use your voice to decide the RCN’s next steps.”

Ends

• For further information please call the RCN Communications and Media Hub on 029 20680769.

   

• Only one in five nurses in Wales say they have enough time to provide the level of care to patients that they would like to- RCN Last Shift Survey Nursing Under Unsustainable Pressure | Publications | Royal College of Nursing (rcn.org.uk)

  
  

• 85% of the public in Wales support a pay rise for nursing staff in the UK, according to data gathered by YouGov. The total sample size was 1,004 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 23rd – 27th June 2022.Surveys were carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in Wales (aged 18+).