Nursing staffing levels ‘will only be improved if the Government gives a salary increase above inflation’ –

If the NHS wants “a chance” to solve staffing problems, as the largest nursing union in the country is demanding today, nurses need a pay rise that will keep inflation down.

The number of nurses leaving the profession in recent years increased for the first time in 2021/22, when more than 25,000 remained.

Nurses, paramedics and general practitioners in the UK received a 3% increase in their salaries in 2021 due to their efforts during the Covid pandemic, and there was a similar increase this year.

But Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said this would be a de facto “salary cut” for nurses due to rising inflation.

At the union’s annual conference today, she said: “If they are to have a chance to improve staffing levels and reward nursing skills, the price must not only meet inflation, but rise five percent above it.”

This would equate to a salary increase of around 12.8 per cent, equivalent to £4,000 for the average nurse.

UK governments will announce the next round of NHS awards in the coming days.

An RCN study of more than 20,000 nurses found that only a quarter of shifts had the planned number of nurses, and 75% of shifts were without at least one or more staff members.

The survey also found that 83% of nurses believe there are not enough nurses to safely and effectively meet all patient needs during their last shift.

Speaking at the RCN’s annual conference in Glasgow, Ms Cullen said nurses were “afraid” of making a living during the livelihood crisis.

He said: ‘When the cost of living goes up, I know how scared you are.

‘People are choosing between warming and eating, and it’s not even winter.

“People are taking the bus around the neighborhood because they can’t fill the car.”

“We should never be ashamed to ask to be paid well and appropriately.

“Anything below current inflation will be another pay cut if ministers make their statement this summer.

“If they want to have a chance to improve staff levels and reward their nursing skills, the price must not only match inflation, but rise five percent.”

Currently, a newly licensed nurse earns around £25,000, while the average British nurse earns £33,000.

The economy’s recovery from the Kovid pandemic and Russia’s occupation of Ukraine caused global energy and gas prices to skyrocket, while inflation rose 7.8% annually through April.

A 12.8% salary increase would result in an increase of £3,200 for new nurses and £4,200 for the average nurse.

A total of 27,133 nurses and midwives left Nursing and Midwifery Council enrollments in 2021/22, 13% more than in the previous year and a recent decline

According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, over 750,000 nurses and midwives are registered to work across the UK.

However, approximately 27,000 registrations left in the year through March 2022, 13% more than the previous year. Most retirees, but one in five, said “too much pressure”.

An RCN survey of more than 20,000 nurses shows that 83% believe there are not enough nurses in the last shift to safely and effectively meet all patient needs.

Only a quarter of the shifts included the number of nurses on the job. And less than one-fifth of nurses said they had enough time to provide the care they wanted.

Ms Cullen said at the conference today: ‘Nurses are being kicked out of the current way of working: understaffed and often bad culture.

“To those in government who listen to my words, we are fed up. The patients and the people we care for have had enough.

“We are tired, weary, discouraged and some of us are leaving the profession because we have lost hope. Do something about it: we’re not going.’

The government had previously offered nurses a 1% salary increase, which it described as a “slap in the face” to the profession.

But ministers later increased their bid to 3%, defined as recognition of staff’s efforts during the pandemic.

Salaries of police officers and teachers were frozen.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has funded a similar wage increase this year, until approved by wage control agencies.

The hike was originally scheduled for April 1, but agencies aren’t expected to publish their recommendations until the end of summer.

Nurses have previously said they would support the strike over the “unacceptable” offer of a 3% salary increase.