Nurses will “bare their teeth” in pursuit of a proper pay rise this year, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief executive has said in a fresh warning about strike action from the profession.
Professor Nicola Ranger today warned ministers against “dither and delay” on nurse pay and said RCN members would decide how they feel about taking strike action over this year’s deal.
“Continue to insult this profession, leave it ailing and underpaid this summer, and you will know that this could escalate”
Nicola Ranger
It comes as nurses and other NHS workers are still yet to receive a formal pay offer from the government for 2025-26.
The government has indicated that a 2.8% pay increase is all it can afford for Agenda for Change staff for 2025-26, while the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) is thought to have recommended around a 3% pay rise.
The RCN is currently surveying its nurses on whether they would be satisfied with a 2.8% increase and what action, including strike action, they would be willing to take if this is what they received.
There is no official strike action ballot planned yet.
During a keynote speech at the annual RCN Congress, being held in Liverpool this week, Professor Ranger noted that the Agenda for Change pay deal was due on 1 April – six weeks ago.
She said: “It’s now been a whole month since the pay review body gave its report and recommendations to the government. Still no news.”
Professor Ranger added: “Government, stop the dither, stop the delay, make the announcements today. Let us know what we’re dealing with.”
It comes as the Scottish Government, which has opted out of the PRB process and instead negotiated directly with unions and employers, recently tabled an 8% pay rise for nurses and other NHS workers over two years.
Professor Ranger noted that the RCN had been calling for direct negotiations across the whole of the UK, describing the PRB as “outdated” and “not independent”.
She said: “I don’t want to hear ministers proudly say this summer ‘we’ve paid the recommendation of the PRB’ because we don’t recognise it.
“It was never going to give ministers the unvarnished truth about what’s really needed.”
Professor Ranger did not rule out strike action from RCN members this year, to which she received a round of applause.
She said: “Look, I’m not here today to tell you that we’re going on strike, but I’m not here today to tell you that we are not going on strike.
“That’s not my call. You need to decide how you feel, [and] we will plan together and get what’s best for nursing and what it needs.
“But to ministers I will say this: do not sail too close to the wind.
“Continue to insult this profession, leave it ailing and underpaid this summer, and you will know that this could escalate.
“If you think we won’t bare our teeth, I am telling you, we will.”
“Gen Z are the future of our profession and they are key to transforming health care over the decades to come”
Nicola Ranger
Professor Ranger warned in her speech that poor pay was putting the younger generation off pursuing nursing as a career.
Research published today by YouGov, which surveyed more than 2,000 young people aged 16-18, found that 88% would not consider nursing as a career.
Some 52% cited low wages as the reason, while 55% said it was due to pressures across healthcare services.
It comes as latest data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service showed that the numbers applying to study nursing at university in the UK has fallen by 34% since 2021, down from 46,040 to 30,550.
Despite nursing being considered the most valuable to society, young people placed it second bottom for its potential to earn a good wage.
Asked what would make nursing career more attractive, young people surveyed said not paying back student loans, higher salaries, well-funded health services and having enough staff as the top three policies that would make a difference.
Professor Ranger described the situation as a “ticking time bomb”.
She said: “Gen Z are the future of our profession and they are key to transforming healthcare over the decades to come.
“Unlocking their talent must become an urgent priority for every single government.”
She urged ministers: “Do the right thing and give today’s final year students guaranteed jobs.
“Where students pay tuition fees today and in recent years here in England, refund them.
“Wipe away the debt in exchange for guaranteed service in the health service or the care system.
“Treat them fairly and they will act fairly. Treat them badly and you see what happens.”
Once again, Professor Ranger reiterated calls for band 5 to 6 pay progression for nurses after a period of preceptorship, to bring nursing in line with its midwifery and paramedic colleagues.
She noted that the RCN had today released a “full case for change” through a new ‘Pathway to Profession’ document setting out on how this policy would work in practice.
She said: “Newly registered nurses, following a period of preceptorship, should progress to band 6 as the new minimum.
“This will show our value and get people to see a future in this fantastic career.”
Again, Professor Ranger raised the alarm about corridor care taking place across the UK.
It follows a survey published by the RCN in January, which revealed that frontline nurses were being forced to give care in corridors, cupboards and car parks on a daily basis.
Professor Ranger described corridor care as a “scandal in plain sight”.
She noted that lobbying from the union had led to Northern Ireland publishing more transparent data on corridor care, had forced debates in the Senedd in Wales and had led to talks with Scotland’s first minister and cabinet secretary.
She said: “Thank you for speaking up – this is how change happens, with our collective voice.”
Meanwhile, Professor Ranger also issued a new warning about nurse-to-patient ratios being “dreadfully unsafe”.
She said: “As the RCN, we’re campaigning for the introduction of safe nurse-to-patient ratios across the UK.
“An aeroplane doesn’t take off without enough staff, a dogwalker is limited on the dogs they can take out in the street, but they think it’s OK for you to compromise and cope?
“Enough, colleagues – safety is not an optional extra, it should be the standard.
“The Royal College of Nursing will bring together all of the evidence and all of the advice, for every setting, to support every individual to work safely and brilliantly.”
