Nurses back Scottish pay deal while rejecting Labour's offer

The Royal College of Nursing Scotland (RCN Scotland) said 61% of respondents to their ballot voted to accept the offer of a 5.5% rise.

The union said the proportion of members voting against the deal shows the Scottish Government “still have more to do” and vowed the campaign on pay and staffing would continue.

Julie Lamberth, RCN Scotland board chair, said: “We believe it was right that our members had their say on this offer.

Julie Lamberth of RCN Scotland

“The result of the vote shows that Scottish Government still have more to do. This is not the end; we will continue the fight for fair pay and safe staffing.”

RCN Scotland is the third major union to accept the Scottish Government’s pay package, worth £448 million, with Unison and Unite having already voted in favour.

If formally accepted, almost 170,000 NHS employees, including nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others, will benefit from the rise, which would be backdated to April.

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.

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The deal being accepted comes on the day a similar 5.5% deal south of the Border has been rejected by the RCN in England.

The pay award was announced by the Chancellor at the end of July, shortly after Labour won the General Election.

The RCN said the high turnout surpassed the level seen in two statutory ballots for industrial action held by the union in 2022 and 2023, the first of which permitted six months of strike action by nursing staff.

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting (below), RCN general secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said: “We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the determination of nursing staff to stand up for themselves, their patients and the NHS they believe in.

(Image: LDR) “Many will support the new Government’s health and care agenda as set out in recent weeks and fully recognise the diagnosis of a failing NHS. Working closely with all other professionals, nursing staff are the lifeblood of the service. The Government will find our continued support for the reforms key to their success.”

Prof Ranger added: “To raise standards and reform the NHS, you need safe numbers of nursing staff and they need to feel valued.

“Nursing staff were asked to consider if, after more than a decade of neglect, they thought the pay award was a fair start. This outcome shows their expectations of government are far higher.

“Our members do not yet feel valued and they are looking for urgent action, not rhetorical commitments.

“Their concerns relate to understaffed shifts, poor patient care and nursing careers trapped at the lowest pay grades – they need to see that the Government’s reform agenda will transform their profession as a central part of improving care for the public.”

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UK Government Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We know what nurses have been through in recent years and how hard it is at the moment. That’s why, despite the bleak economic inheritance, the Chancellor awarded them with an above-inflation pay rise.

“For the first time in a long time, nurses have got a government on their side, that wants to work with them to take the NHS from the worst crisis in its history, to get it back on its feet and make it fit for the future. We will work with NHS staff to turn this around together.”

The RCN’s announcement came while Chancellor Rachel Reeves was delivering her keynote speech at Labour’s conference.