RCN Chief proclaims NHS pay proposal is an ‘unprecedented victory’

The Royal College of Nursing proclaims an ‘above-inflation pay deal is a victory for NHS nurses’.

The Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, Janet Davies, wrote in the NursingStandard this week that NHS staff should consider the NHS pay proposals an ‘unprecedented victory’.

The article comes only weeks after RCN Chief Negotiator, Josie Irwin, said that the NHS pay proposal are the ‘best possible deal’.

In the NursingStandard article, Ms Davies proclaims to readers that an “above-inflation pay deal is a victory for NHS nurses and deserves support”.

But, critics have warned that staff at the top of their banding would, in fact, receive a further real-terms pay cut under the deal as 6.5% over the three years, is below the OBR forecast for RPI inflation – which is set to increase by 9.6%.

Ms Davies goes on to celebrate the hard work of both the RCN and union members to break the 1% pay cap, and as a result, the new proposed pay deal can offer “reliability in a time of great political and economic uncertainty”.

Furthermore, explaining that “The investment from the Treasury is unprecedented” as the rise is fully funded and won’t come from exciting NHS budgets.

Finally, Ms Davies explains that the government has set aside funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to replicate the pay deal if employers, governments and trade unions agree to it.

However, members have raised several key concerns around changes to unsociable hours payments, performance related pay and sick pay for lower bands under the proposals.

The RCN’s consultation period on the NHS pay proposals in England begins on April 23.