Midwife union writes to health secretary over pay delay

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) today said it had written to health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins calling for action on the issue.

“Yet again find the government dragging its heels when it comes to sorting out pay for midwives”

Gill Walton

The annual process by which the pay rises of nurses and other staff on the Agenda for Change is decided was already behind schedule.

However, it now seems likely to be brought to a complete standstill by the general election and its associated campaigning.

The RCM said its letter to the health secretary highlighted what it described as the “frustration and anger” of its members, as they faced “another year in limbo” on pay.

RCM members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where pay is recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB), were due their pay rise almost two months ago on 1 April.

The college cautioned that any further delays would further erode the morale of midwives and MSWs.

In addition, the RCM said that paying staff fairly and valuing the skilled work they did was an important part of the solution to the ongoing shortage of maternity staff.

Some unions, including the RCM, along with the Department of Health and Social Care, have submitted their evidence to the PRB on what they think annual pay rises should be.

In its evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body for 2024-25, the RCM warned in February that “immediate and decisive action is needed to save the UK’s maternity workforce”.

It called for a pay increase for its members that was above inflation, “across the board” and consolidated, as well as a “credible plan” to restore pay lost over time to increased living costs.

Under the process, the PRB, which is intended to be a neutral mechanism, should now weigh up the evidence and make recommendations that ministers can either accept or reject.

But ongoing tension means other unions such as Unison, Unite and GMB have boycotted the PRB process for 2024-25 and submitted their evidence directly to the government instead.

Meanwhile, Scotland is once again taking part in collective bargaining between the government, unions and employers to decide a pay award, rather than using the PRB.

Commenting today, the RCM’s general secretary, Gill Walton, said: “We want to be absolutely clear that a general election is no excuse to delay this type of government business.

“Pay is a crucial lever in retaining staff and right now, with the staffing retention issues blighting maternity services, the government should be doing all it can to hold on to midwives.

“We yet again find the government dragging its heels when it comes to sorting out pay for midwives and MSWs,” she said. “I cannot stress enough how demoralising this is.

“Right now, week in week out, our members are working thousands of hours of overtime for no additional pay while they are left in limbo a decision that should have been made months ago.”

Survey results published by the RCM in April suggested that, during one week in March, midwives and MSWs in England, worked 118,181 extra unpaid hours to keep services running safely, an increase of 18% on the same poll undertaken last year.

The RCM also noted that 66% of respondents to the latest survey had considered leaving their role as midwife or MSW in the past year.

Ms Walton added: “It’s this type of inaction by the government that has midwives questioning if their hard work and commitment to midwifery is even valued.

“We have highlighted this in our letter to the Secretary of State and have also urged the government to publish the Pay Review Body’s recommendations as soon as they have them and without further delay.”

In April last year, members of the college voted to accept the 2022-23 NHS pay offer from the government in England.

Announcing the results of its ballot, RCM said 48% of eligible members had taken part in the vote, with 57% voting to accept the offer, and 43% rejecting.

The offer, announced on 16 March 2023, gave Agenda for Change staff working in the English NHS a non-consolidated lump sum payment for 2022-23 as well as a deal for 2023-24.

It came following a series of high profile strikes by health workers and subsequent negotiations between the government and unions.

The 2022-23 money was made up of two components: a payment that amounted to 2% of individual salaries and a Covid-19 bonus that was worth an average of 4%.

Taken together, the lump sum ranged from 8.2% for band 1 to 3.5% for the top of band 9. It was in addition to the average 4.75% consolidated rise implemented the year before that.

Under the deal, the government also offered a consolidated increase for 2023-24 of 5% for all except the lowest-paid staff who got 10.4%.

It meant that staff in the middle of band 6 saw their salary permanently increase by 9.3% over two years, from £34,172 in 2021-22 to £37,350 in 2023-24, plus a one-off bonus totalling £2,06.