Received from: RCM
Merged into composite 11
Congress notes the RCM is calling for the government to bring forward an NHS pay rise.
Maternity services work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Results of a survey by the RCM have shown that this is regularly without a break. Over three-quarters of respondents skip meals at work, over half feel dehydrated because they don’t have time to drink and 87 per cent delay using the toilet because of work demands.
While public support for the NHS during Covid-19 has been appreciated and a boost to morale, midwives and MSWs have always and will continue to deliver safe, quality services. They deserve pay that reflects that, not through a one-off bonus but through a substantial consolidated increase.
The RCM’s most recent estimate is that England is short of approaching 2,500 midwives. We need to recruit and retain staff. Fair pay is crucial to ensuring the NHS has the workforce it needs for the future.
Congress notes that austerity and cuts to the NHS and wider public services didn’t work in 2010 and it won’t work now.
Congress calls on the TUC to join the RCM in calling on the government to give NHS staff the substantial, early pay rise they deserve.
Royal College of Midwives
AMENDMENT
- Insert new paragraph 6:
“Congress notes that applause for the NHS during the pandemic has translated into a solid belief that staff deserve an early pay rise. UNISON polling found that 69 per cent think all NHS staff should get a pay rise before the end of 2020; two-thirds believe such an increase should be significant.”
UNISON
AMENDMENT
- In paragraph 1, sentence 1, delete “the RCM” and replace with “health unions”.
- In paragraph 3, sentence 1, after “and MSWs”, insert “and other NHS workers”.
- In paragraph 4, sentence 1, after “midwives”, insert
“and NHS Digital estimated that there were more than 88,000 NHS vacancies in England at the end of last year.” - In paragraph 6, sentence 1, delete “the RCM” and replace with “health unions”.
GMB
AMENDMENT
- In paragraph 1, sentence 1, replace “the RCM is calling” with “the RCM and the other NHS health unions are calling”
- In paragraph 6, sentence 1, replace “to join the RCM in calling” with “to join the RCM and the other NHS heath unions in calling”.
College of Podiatry