Nurses In Wales Asked What They Think About Pay Review!

It's after Welsh Government announced a three per cent pay award for 2021-22.

RCN members will be asked to vote to say if they think the award is acceptable or unacceptable. The online electronic voting will be open for 28 days from today.

The consultation comes as members take part in a ‘summer of action’ with campaign events across Wales and the UK.

Richard Jones MBE, Chair of the RCN Wales Board said: “It’s very important that all eligible members take this opportunity to use their vote. This has been an unprecedented year and we want to know what our members think about the 3% the Government has awarded.”

Helen Whyley, Director of the Royal College of Nursing Wales, said: “Over the past 12 months nurses and nursing staff have put their lives in danger. They have left their loved ones to care for the patients and come out of retirement to support the Covid-19 pandemic. But they are telling me they don’t feel valued, and that staff morale is at an all-time low with many nurses experiencing exhaustion and fatigue.

The RCN is campaigning for fair pay for nursing. The Welsh government’s pay award of 3% does not go far enough and it won’t address the need to ensure safe nurse staffing levels or fill the significant number of vacant posts in Wales. We are calling for a pay increase that recognises the huge contribution nursing has played in the pandemic as well as the complex skills, responsibility and experience needed daily by Wales’s registered nurses and health care support workers.”