Nurses condemn PM after ‘inaccurate’ claim
Boris Johnson has been condemned by a nursing union after he made an “inaccurate” claim that nurses have been given a 12.8% pay rise over three years.
At Tuesday’s Downing Street press conference, the prime minister declined to give NHS staff in England a financial bonus as a gesture of support, after health and social care staff in Scotland got a £500 payment.
Instead, Johnson said:
“We do our absolute utmost to support our wonderful NHS staff and indeed have had a three-year pay package for nurses, that I think was 12.8%, and will continue to invest record sums in the NHS.”
The Royal College of Nursing, however, condemned his claim on Tuesday night.
In a statement echoing a callout of the PM earlier this month when he also said there had been a 12.8% pay rise, chief executive and general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair again urged Johnson to be “accurate when discussing nursing pay” .
She also said his claims are “demoralising” for nurses “working a brutal shift” during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Far from getting a pay rise, the most experienced and long-serving nursing staff, who make up nearly half the profession, saw the value of their salaries fall 15.3% at today’s prices between 2010 and last year.
“Registered nurses at the top of band 5 had a salary of £30,615 last year, which would have been more than £5,000 higher if it had kept pace with inflation (RPI) to reach £36,160. This is a real terms gap of 15.3%.”
It came after a grim-faced Johnson said he was “deeply sorry” after the UK’s coronavirus death toll passed 100,000.
“We did everything we could,” Johnson said at the Downing Street briefing.
