Reward heroic frontline nurses with bumper pay rise in Budget, Rishi told
SHATTERED nurse Kate Sinclair said a pay rise would be a “boost for everyone” working flat out across the NHS.
The mum of two last night backed calls for frontline heroes fighting Covid to be rewarded in the pocket.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak exempted NHS workers from the wider public sector pay pause in November.
He is now under immense pressure to deliver a financial thank you in the Budget.
Kate, 44, a senior staff nurse at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said: “It would be a boost for everybody who’s slogged their guts out for the past 12 months and a little bit of recognition for how hard we have worked.
“We don’t go into nursing for money. We do it because we love it, we are passionate about providing great care to patients and their families in the most stressful times of their lives.
“It’s not a nine-to-five job. It becomes part of you. And nurses have sacrificed a lot over the past year.”
A modest 2.5 per cent pay award experienced nursing staff on £30,615 would increase their salary to £31,380. It means weekly take home pay rising by around £9 to £435.
The Royal College of Nursing has asked the Treasury to allocate cash for NHS pay rises.
RCN boss Dame Donna Kinnair said: “An experienced nurse, who might have worked 10 or 20 years in the NHS, deserves more than a few extra pounds per week after this brutal year. They are already worse off than 10 years ago, contrary to claims from the Prime Minister and others.”
Kate, who often works 12-hour shifts, has been qualified for 21 years and earns £31,365. She described the current pay situation as “disheartening”.
Another nurse, Carol from Peterborough praised public clapping in the pandemic. She said: “We were even happy that the politicians joined in.
“But, a year on, there’s only one thing nurses like me really want from them: the salary that matches the job we do.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said NHS staff “will rightly be exempt from the temporary pause on pay”.
It said: “Over one million NHS staff are benefiting from multi-year pay deals, agreed with trade unions, which has delivered a pay rise of over 12 per cent for newly qualified nurses.We will consider the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body.”