Managing director Rhonda Oliver Editor Graham Scott Deputy editors Elaine Cole, Janet Snell Assistant editor Roger Evans ART&SCIENCE Editor Gwen Clarke Deputy editor Tanya Fernandes Acting deputy editor Noreen Begley Clinical editors Beth Knight, Ed Rowe NEWS & VIEWS News editor Sarah Harrison Acting news editor Sally Gillen Acting deputy news editor Kat Keogh Reporters Alistair Kleebauer, Katie Osborne Development editor Frances Pickersgill Features editor Thelma Agnew Reflections editor Clare Lomas PRODUCTION & DESIGN Head of production Fiona Maclean Senior production editor Julie Hickey Production manager Arnie Beeson Production editors Sarah Howe, Jennifer Oldfield Deputy production editor Justin Stevens Sub editors Yvonne Byron Nour, Joyce McKimm, Jennifer Saunders Art directors Ken McLoone, Paul Swainson Deputy art director Minesh Parmar Designer Sujata Aurora Picture editor Philip Brecht Deputy picture editor Helen Jones Assistant picture editor Karen Gordon Production assistant Annette Taylor-Anderson Ad production executives Sally Gauntlett, Sue Horn IT AND NEW MEDIA Technology director John Day ITC manager Alex Oldfield Web editor Amanda Carter IT assistant Kerry Taylor ADMINISTRATION Administration manager Maria O’Brien Editorial administrative assistants Sarah Musisi, Jane Yates BUSINESS UNIT Commercial director Tony O’Rourke PA to commercial director Kim Sanders Head of marketing Helen Sumner Deputy head of marketing Michelle Day Events executive Rachel Weeden Subscriptions manager Beryl John Group educational projects manager Laura Downes RGN Advertisement and sponsorship sales manager Neil Hobson Senior sponsorship and advertising specialist Julia Gomersall Advertisement and sponsorship executives Rachel Fisher, Kelly Smith Classified sales manager Andy McCallum Sales project specialist Freddie Collier Classified sales executives Mandy Croggon, Shona Gethin, Pamela Gethin, Stephanie Mackrill SUBSCRIPTIONS
Personal rates from £76.80 a year. Telephone +44 (0)345 772 6100 Institutional rates from £675 a year. Send all enquiries to [email protected] Visit www.nursing-standard.co.uk for details. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
The Heights, 59-65 Lowlands Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex HA1 3AW Tel: +44 (0)20 8423 1333 Fax: +44 (0)20 8872 3197 ISSN 0029-6570 Email: [email protected] You can email staff at Nursing Standard in the following way: (first name).(second name)@rcnpublishing.co.uk Nursing Standard is published every Wednesday by RCN Publishing Company Ltd, the publishing company of the Royal College of Nursing. It seeks to promote professional excellence, and encourage creativity and innovation in nursing, midwifery and health visiting practice. Nursing Standard also aims to enhance nurses’ and healthcare assistants’ career development and to help them achieve and maintain a healthy and rewarding working environment. Nursing Standard is editorially independent and the opinions expressed are not those of the RCN or of the contributor’s employing organisation unless specifically stated. Acceptance of an advertisement does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement of a product or service, either by the RCN or RCN Publishing.
Editorial Graham Scott EDITOR
@NSeditor
Continuation of NHS Pay Review body benefits all The prospect of yet another year in which most nurses’ standard of living will fall because the English government is too mean to fund a pay rise could hardly be more depressing. Last week’s announcement by the Treasury that nurses will not receive a cost-of-living pay award next year – only a 1 per cent one-off payment if they are at the top of their pay band – demonstrates the lack of respect ministers have for the profession. By contrast, the Scottish Government deserves great credit for sticking to its guns and asking the NHS Pay Review Body (RB) to recommend a pay award for 2015. Evidence from the country’s health department, employers and unions will be submitted over the next couple of months before being considered, as it should be for staff throughout the UK, by the RB’s panel of independent experts on workforce planning and economics. So the pay gap between NHS staff in Scotland and the rest of the UK is likely to widen.
THE PAY GAP BETWEEN NHS STAFF IN SCOTLAND AND THE REST OF THE UK IS LIKELY TO WIDEN
Nurses’ pay is degenerating into a mess. The RB was set up in the 1980s to take politics out of the process and prevent protracted disputes, which used to be commonplace. Now we have a situation in which the RB has been stood down in England and three unions have set off on the path to industrial action. The RCN may be taking a different course, but its members are just as angry and disillusioned. The RB system is not perfect but it has proven effective and prevented industrial action for almost 30 years. This is the last pay round that will be overseen by the coalition government, so the result of next May’s general election will determine whether the RB has a future. It is in everyone’s interests – including the current band of ministers who think they know better – for the RB to be retained and for it to be allowed to do its job without political interference.
See news page 8 Air your views on
Nursing Standard and
@NScomment
Have your say by joining our weekly Twitter debate. Every Thursday from 12.30 to 1.30 use #NScomment and share your views with other nurses on a hot topic of the day
www.nursing-standard.co.uk :: voluses 28without no 50 permission. :: 2014 3 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 17, 2015. For personal useaugust only. No13other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Personal rates from £76.80 a year. Telephone +44 (0)345 772 6100 Institutional rates from £675 a year. Send all enquiries to [email protected] Visit www.nursing-standard.co.uk for details. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
The Heights, 59-65 Lowlands Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex HA1 3AW Tel: +44 (0)20 8423 1333 Fax: +44 (0)20 8872 3197 ISSN 0029-6570 Email: [email protected] You can email staff at Nursing Standard in the following way: (first name).(second name)@rcnpublishing.co.uk Nursing Standard is published every Wednesday by RCN Publishing Company Ltd, the publishing company of the Royal College of Nursing. It seeks to promote professional excellence, and encourage creativity and innovation in nursing, midwifery and health visiting practice. Nursing Standard also aims to enhance nurses’ and healthcare assistants’ career development and to help them achieve and maintain a healthy and rewarding working environment. Nursing Standard is editorially independent and the opinions expressed are not those of the RCN or of the contributor’s employing organisation unless specifically stated. Acceptance of an advertisement does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement of a product or service, either by the RCN or RCN Publishing.
Editorial Graham Scott EDITOR
@NSeditor
Continuation of NHS Pay Review body benefits all The prospect of yet another year in which most nurses’ standard of living will fall because the English government is too mean to fund a pay rise could hardly be more depressing. Last week’s announcement by the Treasury that nurses will not receive a cost-of-living pay award next year – only a 1 per cent one-off payment if they are at the top of their pay band – demonstrates the lack of respect ministers have for the profession. By contrast, the Scottish Government deserves great credit for sticking to its guns and asking the NHS Pay Review Body (RB) to recommend a pay award for 2015. Evidence from the country’s health department, employers and unions will be submitted over the next couple of months before being considered, as it should be for staff throughout the UK, by the RB’s panel of independent experts on workforce planning and economics. So the pay gap between NHS staff in Scotland and the rest of the UK is likely to widen.
THE PAY GAP BETWEEN NHS STAFF IN SCOTLAND AND THE REST OF THE UK IS LIKELY TO WIDEN
Nurses’ pay is degenerating into a mess. The RB was set up in the 1980s to take politics out of the process and prevent protracted disputes, which used to be commonplace. Now we have a situation in which the RB has been stood down in England and three unions have set off on the path to industrial action. The RCN may be taking a different course, but its members are just as angry and disillusioned. The RB system is not perfect but it has proven effective and prevented industrial action for almost 30 years. This is the last pay round that will be overseen by the coalition government, so the result of next May’s general election will determine whether the RB has a future. It is in everyone’s interests – including the current band of ministers who think they know better – for the RB to be retained and for it to be allowed to do its job without political interference.
See news page 8 Air your views on
Nursing Standard and
@NScomment
Have your say by joining our weekly Twitter debate. Every Thursday from 12.30 to 1.30 use #NScomment and share your views with other nurses on a hot topic of the day
www.nursing-standard.co.uk :: voluses 28without no 50 permission. :: 2014 3 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 17, 2015. For personal useaugust only. No13other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
