RCN accuses Sunak of making ‘misleading’ statements on nurses’ pay

Nurses’ leaders have written to the Prime Minister “rebuking” comments on pay for nursing staff.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) accused Rishi Sunak of making “misleading” statements about nurses’ pay.

The union said the Prime Minister continued to say that disputes had been resolved apart from the one involving junior doctors.

Our profession will be greatly angered hearing your comments which sought to take credit for a pay offer that was not accepted

In response to comments on The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots programme on Talk TV, Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, wrote to the prime minister urging him to “desist from making misleading and inaccurate public statements about nursing pay”, adding that the RCN remained in a formal dispute over pay.

She said: “Our profession will be greatly angered hearing your comments which sought to take credit for a pay offer that was not accepted.”

The letter said: “Last night on The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots show, you stated that you have “resolved” the dispute with everyone apart from the junior doctors, “starting with the nurses”. This is untrue.

“I am writing to ask that you desist from making misleading and inaccurate public statements about nursing pay.

“Royal College of Nursing members rejected the government’s pay offer last year, an offer that was the lowest in the public sector.

“We remain in a formal trade dispute over pay.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The NHS Staff Council voted by majority to accept the Agenda for Change pay deal last year, meaning that pay for 2023-24 has been settled.

“This was a fair and reasonable deal for Agenda for Change staff, delivering a generous consolidated award and additional one-off bonuses.

“That is why most trade unions ended their dispute – because it was the right deal for the more than one million workers represented under Agenda for Change.”