Nurses to hold silent protests in Cornwall over pay deal
There calls for a bigger increase than the 3% controversially awarded for NHS staff earlier this year
Silent protests are set to be held in Cornwall over the pay deal for nurses.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said there is growing anger over the “failure“ of ministers to listen to calls for a bigger increase than the 3% controversially awarded for NHS staff earlier this year.
Unions representing health workers have been campaigning for a much larger rise, especially after the way staff have responded to the pandemic.
A series of protests are being held across the country today (9th September) which will see nurses bow their heads and stand in silence in response to the pay deal imposed on them by the Government.
In Cornwall they are being held on the grass outside the towerblock of the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro between 12pm and 2pm, in the car park of Camborne and Redruth Community Hospital and Longreach House between 3pm and 4pm, and at Fistral Beach in Newquay between 7pm and 8pm.
Nurses will be protesting in a respectful way, in direct contrast to how they have been treated by the Government, said the RCN.
Its members working in the NHS in England and Wales are voting on whether they find the 3% pay award acceptable, with the result due later this month.
The RCN said the latest figures from NHS England show the number of nursing vacancies has risen to nearly 40,000, an increase of more than 4,000 in just one month.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “The voice of nursing has been ignored for such a long time and many in the profession are now lost for words at how ministers are treating them.
“They were sent to fight the pandemic without adequate protection and now they have a pay deal that even the Government admits leaves them worse off.
“Politicians who see our members standing vigil today should realise it’s not too late to change their minds – but they have to be willing to start the conversation.”
The RCN is campaigning for a fully-funded 12.5% pay increase for all nursing staff, which recognises the complex mix of skills, responsibility and experience demonstrated every day by members of the profession.