New nursing profiles don’t go far enough, says RCN

Newly proposed NHS national nursing profiles for bands 4, 5 and 6 still fail to recognise the skills, experience and expertise of nursing staff, says the RCN.

We want the new government to ensure every nursing professional is in the right band, so that every staff member is paid fairly and can afford to keep working in the NHS. This should be in addition to a fully funded above-inflation pay rise for 2024/25.

We’ve responded to a consultation on the new nursing profiles, led by the NHS Staff Council’s Job Evaluation Group, telling them that the latest proposals don’t go far enough.

Nursing needs to be recognised as a band 6 role. Nursing staff should automatically progress from band 5 to 6 after a period of preceptorship, just like midwives and paramedics already do.

Nursing profiles are used to decide which Agenda for Change (AfC) pay band NHS nursing staff are working at, affecting how much they get paid. AfC is now 20 years old and no longer reflects modern nursing and what’s expected of nursing staff in each pay band. Nursing is now a degree-educated, highly skilled, safety-critical role.

We called for the review of nursing and midwifery profiles, which began in 2021, but say more needs to be done to ensure nursing staff are paid fairly. The latest profiles are based on out-of-date job descriptions, and nursing staff are still not guaranteed the progression they deserve.

Registered nurses regularly carry out clinical tasks that were once reserved for junior doctors and many nurses working in the NHS begin and end their careers on the same pay band. We know that many band 4 nursing staff are already being used as substitutes for band 5 nurses – without being paid at that level. And nursing staff are still denied a pathway to band 6 that’s available to other health professionals. Nursing staff everywhere are being denied fair pay for the jobs they’re doing.

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Nursing deserves a pay structure that can support clear career progression with greater levels of reward to recognise skills, competence and expertise gained; and greater responsibilities assumed.   

“We’ve got a new government in Westminster, and I have written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care setting out the issues you face and with the current pay structures in particular. Nursing staff need to be properly recognised and valued through fair pay. I know your value, and I will fight for it to be fairly rewarded.”

We’re already supporting our members to use the job evaluation process to seek pay justice. Find out more about job evaluation here.

The UK government is due to announce the 2024/25 pay award for NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts by the end of July. We’ll consult members on the award, so make sure your details are up to date on MyRCN.