Country’s top nurse resigns in the wake of misleading NHS pay blunder

Country’s top nurse resigns after NHS pay blunder left tens of thousands of nurses expecting a 3% raise that never materialised

• Janet Davies will step down as chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing
• She apologised to the 435,000-strong union last month because of the blunder 
• Nurses were told they would get an immediate 3% pay rise – but only half did 

Britain’s top nurse resigned yesterday in the wake of the NHS pay rise blunder that misled thousands of nurses.

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, announced she will step down from her role at the end of August.

She apologised to the 435,000-strong union last month after previously telling members they would receive an immediate three per cent pay rise in July.

But only half are thought to have received a pay rise straight away – the rest were told they had to wait the nearly a year until their appraisal.

Ms Davies offered a ‘sincere personal apology’ at the time and said the pay deal was ‘not as straightforward as we said’.

Many nurses were furious over the misleading deal and hundreds signed a vote of no confidence petition, calling for her and other bosses to step down.

The RCN is the world’s largest nursing union and professional body, and the Queen has been a patron of it since the 1950s.

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, announced she will step down from her role at the end of August

Maria Trewern, chairwoman of the RCN council said: ‘The RCN and Janet Davies have decided to part ways by mutual agreement.

‘We thank her for all her service to the college as chief executive and general secretary over the past three years, and wish her well.’

Ms Davies, who had been in her role since 2015, said: ‘It has been a great honour to represent my profession at the highest level.

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‘And I am proud of the achievements the college has made over the past three years against a difficult political backdrop.

‘I wish my colleagues and our membership all the best for the future, and look forward to taking on some new challenges.’

ARE NURSES THE ONLY ONES GETTING A PAY RISE? 

Ministers in March finally drew a line under the public sector pay cap as a new NHS deal was unveiled.

Workers in the health service were offered an average 6.5 per cent rise over three years.

The move marked the end of seven years of tough pay restraint as the Government fought to balance the books in the wake of the credit crunch.

The deal did not cover doctors, who negotiate their pay separately. The BMA demanded pay rises of 5.6 per cent ahead of a formal pay review.

The largest NHS trade unions welcomed the deal, which came after months of intense negotiation, and said they would that it is accepted by their members.

The proposed deal was given the go ahead in June, when members of 13 unions representing hospital cleaners, nurses, security guards, emergency call handlers, paramedics, midwives, radiographers and physiotherapists accepted the terms. 

The GMB, that primarily represents paramedics, was the only union involved in the NHS which rejected the offer.

Dame Professor Donna Kinnair will assume the role of acting chief executive and general secretary.

The RCN said it is ‘awaiting the full findings of a review into the past few months’ events’ before it chooses the permanent head.

More than one million health workers were told they would receive a pay rise worth 6.5 per cent over the next three years in June.

The union for nurses claimed the deal would see all nurses receive a three per cent pay rise in July, dating back to April.

The agreement, reached after months of negotiation between unions, employers and ministers, was made possible with an extra £4.2 billion of government funding.

Unions said the decision to accept the deal meant a significant wage boost for the lowest paid workers in the NHS.

But due to the complex system of how pay bands work for nurses in England, scores claimed to receive only very small increases.

Several nurses took to Twitter to complain at how their salary had increased by a few pennies – with one saying it had risen by 20p.

Most nurses received an increase of 1.5 per cent, Nursing in Practice reports, and were told the remainder would come on their next appraisal.

In the wake of the news, a 1,000 members of the RCN were left furious and signed a petition to try and oust the leadership.

An average nurse earns £23,300 a year – so a three per cent pay rise would be about £700, taking the salary to around £24,000.

But only nurses on the top of their ‘pay band’ received the agreed increase because of the misleading deal.

Nurses usually start off on ‘band 5’ – according to the NHS’s pay scale – progressing up to ‘band 8’ as with seniority.

The RCN could not provide figures for the numbers of nurses affected at the time.

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