ROYAL College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger yesterday warned staff may strike again this summer unless the government comes up with a ‘significant’ pay offer.
At the annual RCN congress in Liverpool, Ranger warned ministers ‘not to sail too close to the wind’ when it comes to announcing a pay deal and believes the situation will ‘escalate’ if the profession is left ‘ailing and underpaid’.
Last month, the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) recommended a pay rise of about 3% for nurses for the year 2025-26 but the government has yet to announce its offer.
It has previously budgeted for a 2.8% uplift to staff pay.
In her keynote speech to delegates yesterday Ranger also warned that staffing levels are ‘dreadfully unsafe’ and urged nurses not to accept corridor care as ‘the norm’.
She told delegates: ‘In the NHS, your pay award was due six weeks ago. Government should stop the dither and delay and make the announcements.
‘It has now been a whole month since the Pay Review Body gave its report and recommendations to government but still no news.
‘We need a significant pay rise for nursing and for every NHS employer to be given the full money to pay it – anything else is a cut to patient services.
‘I’m not here to tell you we’re going on strike. You will decide how you feel and we will plan together the best way to get what nursing needs.
‘But I ask ministers not to sail close to the wind. If you continue to insult this profession, leave it ailing and underpaid this summer then you know how this could escalate.’
In response to PM Starmer’s speech announcing the immigration White Paper earlier, Professor Ranger told delegates: ‘Many of you in this hall today started your nursing journey far away. So let me say again: you are more than welcome in the UK. Thank you for bringing your skills to this country and bringing your lives here. You know, more than I ever will, the obstacles, costs and the hostility.
‘But look at the Home Secretary and Prime Minister. The UK is so reliant on overseas colleagues, especially in social care. The government has no plan to grow a domestic workforce. This is about politics – pandering and scapegoating. It should be about people.
‘We need an immigration system that works for care staff, nurses and the people who rely on them. Drop the policy of no recourse to public funds and grant indefinite leave to remain to all nursing staff without delay. Measures like this will give people the security, respect and stability they need.’
Earlier she told BBC Breakfast ‘they treat migrant workers badly’ and ‘domestic nurses can’t get jobs because they’ve cut the headcount.’
