The
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Council has voted to recommend that its members
accept the Government’s Agenda for Change proposals.
The
package of proposed changes to pay, career structure and conditions of
employment, was published last year and would see the biggest overhaul in the
NHS since its introduction in 1948.
The
proposals will now be put to 355,000 RCN members in a UK-wide ballot, the
results of which will be announced in April.
The
RCN Council said if its members voted to support the package there would be
significant benefits for patient care in the future as nurses’ pay,
professional development and career opportunities are improved.
However,
it registered its anger with the proposed 3.225 per cent rise in the first year
– particularly given that nurses have already played such a leading role in
reforming healthcare.
Council’s
chair Jill Jarvis said the package would need close attention from employers,
managers and staff because of its complexity.
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