Nurses should be paid a minimum of Band 6 ‘in recognition of their skills’

Nurses claim their pay does not reflect their role or responsibilities.

Delegates at the Royal College of Nursing’s annual Congress in Liverpool cheered yesterday as Andrea Spyropoulos, a Registered Nurse Midwife and the former President of the Royal College of Nursing, proclaimed that “no registered nurse should be a band 5″.

Going on to suggest that nurses start at band 6 instead.

Spyropoulos’s remarks have sparked renewed calls for a review of how registered nurses are banded.

Since the introduction of Agenda for Change in 2004, the vast majority of registered nurses in the NHS have been paid at band 5.

Chronic staffing shortages throughout the NHS mean the workload of nurses has dramatically increased, many now claim their pay no longer reflects their role or responsibilities.

‘Band 5 is no longer appropriate’.

The starting salary of a newly qualified staff nurse has risen by a mere £1.76 per hour in the past ten years.

In a statement to NursingNotes, Spyropoulos added; “Agenda for change band 5 is no longer appropriate for registered nurses. They have superb skills and constantly work beyond the grade definition.”

Adding; its “time to change the agenda, remove band five, and insist registered nurses are paid at band 6 in recognition of their skills.”

Unions are preparing to enter into a fresh set of pay negotiations next year.

Dame Donna Kinnair, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, during her keynote speech yesterday said; “The three-year deals we have at present will be in its last year.  It will be the moment for a set of fresh faces from the RCN to make our case for why the pay of nursing staff, no matter where you work, must be boosted.”