"Goodwill of nurses being stretched to breaking point"

Wednesday 19 June 2019

A petition calling for nurses pay inequality to be addressed has been signed by more than 1,600 people in just two days.

The petition, called 'Guernsey nurses need equal pay for work of equal value', has been set up by the Guernsey branch of the Royal College of Nursing.

"For too long concerns over nurses pay have been ignored," the petition says. "It isn’t fair that nursing pay is lagging so far behind other public sector professionals on Guernsey and has fallen so dramatically behind comparable pay on Jersey."

It asks the States to address three key issues:

1. Nursing pay. Nurses want a meaningful pay rise that not only keeps up with, but significantly exceeds RPI (cost of living) and
will finally bring them in line with colleagues doing similar work across the States as well as across the health sector, giving pay parity for everyone.

2. Pay, terms and conditions framework. There needs to be a solid framework in place to ensure fairness across the board and to future proof the nursing profession so that a nursing career on Guernsey is seen as an attractive and viable option.

3. Patient care. There needs to be a robust system in place to ensure safe staffing that will enable safe delivery of care without relying on top-up agency nurses and stretching the goodwill of staff to breaking point.

The petition can be found here.

For more background on the nurses pay issue, read: 1 in 8 nurses satisfied with their pay, "Nurses have lost confidence in the States", HSC echoes union's call for "clear plan of action" on nurses pay.