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Government position on pay increase for nursing ‘deeply offensive’, RCN says
As the UK government submits its evidence to the Pay Review Body for 2025/26, we say the proposed figure for nursing staff proves nursing staff were right to ask for direct pay negotiations.
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A pay increase in the region of 2.8% for nursing staff in England would be an insult to workers, harmful for patients and counterproductive to rebuilding the NHS, the RCN says.
We’re responding to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) submitting its evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) for the 2025/26 pay round, which sets out the DHSC funding for pay recommendations for staff on Agenda for Change contracts.
In November, along with fellow health unions UNISON and Unite, we urged the government to negotiate directly and adopt a simpler, easier way of determining health staff pay in England, to attract and retain NHS workers, cut backlogs and improve patient care.
RCN members voted to reject the 2024/25 pay award because it did not achieve fair pay for nursing. We believe that the PRB process is outdated and bureaucratic, and we want the government and NHS Employers to hold direct talks with unions instead. This was a decision made by the RCN’s Trade Union Committee with the support of Council.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The government has today told nursing staff they are worth as little as £2 extra a day, less than the price of a coffee. Nursing is in crisis – there are fewer joining and too many experienced professionals leaving. This is deeply offensive to nursing staff, detrimental to their patients and contradictory to hopes of rebuilding the NHS.
“The public understands the value of nursing and they know that meaningful reform of the NHS requires addressing the crisis in nursing.
“We pulled out of the PRB process, alongside other unions, because it is not the route to address the current crisis. That has been demonstrated today. Fair pay must be matched by structural reform. Let’s open direct talks now and avoid further escalation to disputes and ballots – I have said that directly to government today.”
Thousands of nursing staff have already signed our open letter calling on local MPs to support direct negotiations to address fair pay in the NHS, and nursing staff can continue to add their support. Sign it today.
