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Nurses call for 12.5% pay rise


By Alistair Whitfield

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The Royal College of Nursing has launched a campaign to demand a 12.5% pay rise for nursing staff across the UK.

Focusing initially on an immediate pay rise for NHS staff, it aims to raise the bar for nurses who work for independent employers.

Before the pandemic there were over 3,600 nursing and midwifery vacancies within the NHS in Scotland.

This, says the royal college, impacted on the safety of patients as well as the morale of staff.

Responses from Scotland to a recent RCN survey showed that 38 per cent are thinking of leaving the profession this year, with almost 60 per cent citing pay as a factor.

Dame Donna Kinnair, the royal college's chief executive, said: "Our Fair Pay for Nursing campaign is about recognising the skill, experience and responsibility demonstrated every day by members of the profession.

"This is about more than the profession’s response to COVID-19 – it is about increasing the attractiveness of the profession, to fill tens of thousands of unfilled nursing jobs and reach safe staffing levels.

"It is time to pay nursing staff fairly."

Dame Donna Kinnair.
Dame Donna Kinnair.

Norman Provan, associate director for Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said: "The nursing profession has been in the spotlight like never before.

"But if Scotland is going to retain and attract the workforce it needs nursing staff must be paid fairly for the work that they do.

"Through this campaign we will put pressure on the UK and Scottish governments to stop claiming to value nursing staff and actually demonstrate it."

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