Nurses and midwives should not be held to ransom on fee increase says UNISON – Unions condemns 60% hike in registration fees

“Scottish Chief Nursing Officer must intervene” says nursing Union .  

UNISON Scotland, is condemning plans that will see the yearly registration fee that must be paid by every nurse and midwife increase by over 60%. This move comes at the same time as pension contribution increases mean that every nurse or midwife attempting to save for their future has just had their take home pay reduced.  

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has announced that it will begin consulting on raising the annual fee that nurses and midwifes have to pay to work from £76 to £120 per year. The last fee increase came in 2007, when nurses were asked to pay more to allow the NMC to build up its reserves.

The union said that serious questions need to be asked about financial management at the troubled regulatory body, which has been in special measures since 2008, and has had six chief executives and three chairs in that time.

Bridget Hunter, UNISON Scotland head of nursing said:

“Hard pressed nurses and midwives will rightly be very angry about plans to make them pay more to work. Many of these vital health workers and their families are already struggling to make ends meet. Not only have they had their pay frozen for two years, cutbacks in the Health Service mean that many newly qualified nurses are finding it difficult to get jobs and may question the value of  trying to stay in the profession .

“The government cannot stand by and let the pressure keep piling onto nurses and midwives. Not only should it start applying serious scrutiny to the NMC, it must also step in and persuade the council that now is not the time to raise its fees. Health workers should not have to pay the price for the NMC’s own failures and for the government’s failure to police this body properly.

 We hope that Scotland’s Chief Nursing Officer, Ros Moore will add her voice to those opposing this desperately unfair hike in fees.  ”

UNISON is seeking an urgent meeting with the NMC and with ministers, and is calling on the NMC to undertake an urgent review of its financial systems. The union made it clear that it will not support the fee rise.

HAIRMYRES VISIT

Tomorrow we will be visiting Hairmyres Hospital , to talk , meet, and greet old members and new - we'll be just outside the restaurant from about 10am till 2pm .

Theres freebies to give away , the chance to get the latest news on the Pensions situation and pick up a copy of the new Hairmyres Howl the UNISON Newsheet for the Hospital.

The Monklands Mouth

Come along to the UNISON stall in Monklands tomorrow and pick up copies of our branch newssheet for Monklands - official known as 'The Monklands Mouth'.

See you at the restaurant!!

A THREAT TO MATERNITY LEAVE

Did you know that the UK Con-Dem Government are thinking of reducing maternity leave to 18 weeks?  We believe that six months matters for Mums to recover from birth and prepare to return to work.

Current law allows most women to return to work after two weeks, but the presumption is that women will take 52 weeks’ leave unless they tell employers they want to come back sooner.  Under potential Government plans, the presumption will be 18 weeks of leave after which you will have to negotiate with your employer. 

We’re campaigning for at minimum standard of 26 weeks (six months) of maternity leave for all women and want to know if six months matters/ed to you.

Whether you’re about to have a baby, are in the middle of maternity leave or you’re back at work, we would like to hear your stories.

What do you remember as the best bit of maternity leave?

When were you ready to organise childcare or negotiate working patterns? When did you start getting any sleep?

And most critically, would you have been ready to return to work after 18 weeks? 

If you believe that six months maternity leave matters for mums and babies, please help us:

1         Tell us your stories on Working Families FACEBOOK page here

Upload your pictures of your baby between 4 and 6 months and tell us      
            why six months mattered to you.

2         Take the NetMums survey this week here:  www.surveymonkey.com/s/maternityleavesurvey

3         And spread the word by emailing this message to six more friends and ask them to tell us why six months mattered/s to them

Thanks for all your help and please do follow our campaign by ‘liking’ our facebook page.

Working Families webiste can be found here

Crisis Normal! Response from UNISON's survey

In March, UNISON at a UK level asked nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and other staff to chart their experiences including the pressures of a typical working day.

The responses revealed some shocking insights:

“Crisis has become the norm.”

“My workload meant that I was unable to deliver the standard of care that I would like. And I considered it unsafe.”

“It is so unfair to the patients that have to wait for long periods to have a wash or get changed or even to get attention because we are too busy dealing with so many things at the same time.”

When asked, ‘Did you feel you had an adequate amount of time to spend with each patient?’ more than 75% said ‘No’ (76.8%). More than 70% said they did not have enough time to spend with patients to deliver dignified, safe, compassionate care. Almost 90% supported legislation to set minimum nurse to patient ratios, as a means to improving patient care.

In support of the survey findings, delegates at UNISON’s health care conference in Brighton last week voted to launch a campaign for nursing staffing levels to be legally enforceable and increased to a minimum and safe level to protect patients and health workers.

Christina McAnea, UNISON Head of Health, said: “UNISON’s survey shows staff are under severe pressure to cope with the sheer number of patients and their complex and varied medical needs. 90% of those surveyed want legislation to set minimum nurse to patient ratios. While there is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution to setting safe staffing levels, it is clear that without them patient care is being compromised and patients’ lives are at risk.”

“Self-policing is just not working especially in this climate of budget cuts. It is time to confront the evidence which clearly demonstrates that mandatory staffing levels are directly associated with a reduction in patient deaths.”