‘Ignorant vandalism’: Unison members oppose nurse pay spine
Unison members have reaffirmed their opposition to a separate pay spine for nurses – an idea that some of the union’s health workers dubbed “dangerous”, “unworkable” and “ignorant”.
An emergency motion on the separate pay spine proposal was called at Unison’s 2024 Health Service Group Conference, held in Brighton this week.
“We’re told this would help career progression and professional development [for nurses], but [it] will do neither”
Eddie Woolley
The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recently undertook a consultation on the matter, fulfilling a promise made to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) during pay negotiations.
The options considered included creating a separate pay spine within the Agenda for Change pay system for nurses, or removing them entirely from it and creating a new structure for them like doctors have.
However, at the Unison conference, Midlands-based operating department practitioner (ODP) Eddie Woolley described both these options as “unacceptable”.
He tabled a motion titled ‘Divided we fall: invest in Agenda for Change, don’t destroy it’, which asked the union to continue strongly opposing the idea of a separate nursing pay spine.
It was unanimously backed by voting members at the conference.
Mr Woolley asked that Agenda for Change be reformed instead, and said that splitting professional groups out from it would be “an act of ignorant vandalism” by the government.
“We’re told this would help career progression and professional development [for nurses], but [it] will do neither,” he said.
“It will just create division among staff.”
He added: “The government has given us two options… both are unacceptable and could lead to other staff groups demanding to be treated differently.”
Mr Woolley acknowledged the need to reform nurse pay, however, and said more should be done to retain nurses and allow clinical expertise to be rewarded.
ODP Eddie Woolley putting forward the motion
“[But] let’s be clear, it is not just nurses the NHS fails to recruit and retain,” he added.
“We can’t retain catering, domestic or porter staff. Why is that? Because the money’s no good. It’s as simple as that.”
He added that the union should work with both the central and devolved UK governments to prevent the implementation of a separate pay spine for nursing staff.
One nurse, from Northern Ireland, told the conference of her opposition to a separate pay spine on the grounds that it could disadvantage other staff.
She said: “The truth is I can’t do my work as a nurse without a clean environment, I can’t do it without well looked after patients, and I can’t do it without fantastic support and experience from healthcare assistants and people who do the admin so I can do my work.”
Another registered nurse told the conference that she felt “strongly” that separating nurse pay would create “silos” in the workforce.
“Interdisciplinary teams work best when we are integrated and cohesive with each other,” she said.
“We risk dividing up the power of the trade union collective… disrupting the collaborative dynamic and creating conflict and fragmentation.
“The options put forward by the government in their call for evidence are divisive, dangerous and unworkable”
Unison member
“Yes, we all need better pay for work, but I feel the problem can be better fixed through the NHS job evaluation scheme.
“We are stronger together, we are one team.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Unison’s nursing and midwifery occupational committee warned: “The options put forward by the government in their call for evidence are divisive, dangerous and unworkable.”
She acknowledged that there were “many issues affecting NHS nurses, which do need to be addressed”, but felt a separate pay spine was not the answer.
“Our staffing levels are poor, we don’t have the right career opportunities and so many nurses are stuck working on a band 5 unable to progress,” she said.
“But none of these issues will be fixed by a separate pay spine. They will be fixed by hard work, by union organising and by exercising our collective strength.”
The motion was carried unanimously by Unison delegates, echoing a similar vote which passed overwhelmingly during the 2023 Unison health conference.
The case for the pay spine was laid out by the RCN earlier this week.
Nurses, the union said, had “outgrown” Agenda for Change due to advancements in nursing practice in the last two decades.
The RCN claimed that nursing needed its own pay structure similar to the medical profession, and claimed the current system was an “impediment” to career progression, development and for patient care and safe staffing.
In its submission to DHSC consultation, the union said the separate pay structure should be based on a progression through these six levels of practice: supportive (nursing support workers), assistive (registered nursing associate), registered nurses, enhanced, advanced and consultant.
The consultation closed on 4 April and the government will now review the findings.
