Two months ago, RCN members in England voted decisively to reject the NHS 2024-25 pay award as unacceptable.
The next pay award must be negotiated between ministers, employers and health unions – the government should stand down the NHS Pay Review Body, and to reinforce our position we are withdrawing our participation. We participated in the PRB in good faith last year and the award was one that members decided was not fair.
This decision has been taken by fellow RCN members you’ve elected to the Trade Union Committee and with the support of Council.
Previous awards demonstrate the PRB is not currently functioning in a way that our members can have confidence in. Furthermore, the current remit from the UK Government clearly reinforces the PRB must have regard to the NHS budget when making its recommendations. This is not genuine independence.
The status quo is not working for the NHS. It is not working for nursing. It’s time for change.
Ahead of next year’s pay award, we need to get around the table and have meaningful discussions. The government needs to take our value seriously and understand that Agenda for Change without significant reform will no longer be fit for purpose.
Direct negotiations can start to restore value to nursing pay and reform the 20-year-old structure.
This decision has been taken by fellow RCN members you’ve elected to the Trade Union Committee and with the support of Council.
It reflects the recent rejection by RCN members of the Government’s pay award, the lack of progress by government and employers on ‘’ and the restrictions already placed on the upcoming Pay Review Body in the remit letter.
Year on year under the previous government offers and awards failed to restore nursing pay. Our profession needs investment, now. That’s why we want fresh negotiations.
The current government has demonstrated it wants to see change in the NHS and moved quickly to launch a significant reform agenda. Alongside that work, it must look closely at what the NHS workforce needs to deliver that change. We are calling for negotiations that seek to address decades of pay degradation and ensure the NHS can keep our country healthy.
In the 20 years since the Agenda for Change pay structure was introduced, nursing has transformed.
Without significant reform of Agenda for Change reflecting that, the RCN believes a separate pay and career structure for nursing and nursing support workers should be put in place and workers could be paid starting salaries in the region of £27,500, and registered nurses in the region £35,000, with progress towards £50,000. A path towards more advanced career levels should be clearly and credibly marked out.
The RCN continues to campaign for change on all aspects of NHS pay, terms and conditions, including individual and group job evaluation cases, and the national nursing and midwifery profile review.
The government must now demonstrate its commitment to nursing and show that its NHS reform plans will transform nursing and rebuild the profession as a central part of improving patient care.
That commitment can start with direct negotiations