NMC increase in fees

Background

Despite already increasing the registration fees for nurses and midwives in 2012 from £76 to £100 the NMC have announced that they want to further increase fees by 20% to £120 in 2015.

UNISON is opposed to the increase and is campaigning against it. Over 100,000 people have already signed the online petition

 https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60164

UNISON Lanarkshire Health Branch is calling on all nurse and midwife members to write to the MP and ask for their support in our campaign to oppose the increase.

The Campaign

It’s quite simple. over the next few months UNISON will be out and about in every workplace encouraging nurse members to sign up to our campaign.

We will have packs of standard letters for you and your colleagues to sign, if you are a UNISON member we will post them on to your MP for you.

Alternatively you can use the template letter (cut and paste) below and the following web link to write or email, to your MP direct at the House of Commons.

At this stage we are not targeting MSP's because the issue of NMC Registration and Fees is still reserved to the UK Government.

In addition Branch Secretary Mary Samson is writing to every MP in the Lanarkshire area asking them for their support. Who knows one or two might even agree to meet with UNISON members to hear their views - if they do we will keep members on our email list posted.

Not on our email list? You can make sure you are kept up to date with all of the big issues affecting UNISON members simply email us at

unisonlanhealth@hotmail.co.uk

with your name, address and email and we will amend your records to make sure that you are included in our regular email communications to members.

You Can Find Your MP here...

Before you start you will want to find out who your MP is. You can use your postcode to find the name of your MP here..

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

Template Letter

<<insert your name>> 

<<Address>> 

<<Postcode>> 

<<Your MP's name >>

House of Commons,

London SW1A 0AA 

<<insert date>>

Dear  MP

I am seeking your support as a local constituent and one of 670,000 nurses and midwives working in the UK in our fight to scrap further NMC fee increases.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator for nurses and midwives on the UK. It is illegal to work as a nurse or midwife without being on the NMC register. In order to be on the register, all nurses and midwives must pay an annual registration fee. The NMC maintains this register in order to 'protect the public'.

The NMC has again proposed an increase in registrations fees, this latest increase will see fees rise from £100 to £120 per annum, a 20% hike. The last increase was in 2012 following a consultation in which nurse and midwives were overwhelmingly against the rise from £76 to £100, a 32% rise, a total increase of 52% in two years. At this time the NMC was bailed out to the tune of £20million by the Government only two years later they state that without a fee increase the NMC will end the financial year with a £7.3 million deficit. This report was tabled at the January council meeting of the NMC. Over 670,000 nurses and midwives pay the annual fee currently totally £67 million. 77% of registrants fees are spent on 'fitness to practice'.

Health Christina McAnea, UNISON Head of Health has said that

“it beggars belief that the NMC should even consider asking nursing staff to pay such a massive increase in fees.  The family budgets of many nurses and midwives are under severe pressure and one more bill to pay can all too easily tip them over the edge, especially as it comes on the back of the recent pay announcement. Public protection is everyone's business and the full financial burden shouldn't fall to registrants alone.”

I write today to ask for your help and support, to ask questions of the NMC and their financial mismanagement.

Kind regards

Finally

Contacting your MP is just the start of the campaign, if your MP is in touch with you, let us know what she/he says - send a copy of their letter or email to UNISON at the contact details at the side of this website.

You could even write to your local newspaper or to the NMC direct

Payday loans crackdown - UNISON responds

Steps to regulate the payday loan industry, including a restriction on advertising time, are welcome, but there is still more to be done, UNISON said today.

UNISON said it was high time regulatory steps were taken to prevent companies taking advantage of desperate people, by giving them loans they cannot hope to repay.

Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary, said: “This is a welcome step in the right direction, but a restriction on advertising time does not go far enough. These loans are targeted at financially vulnerable, often desperate people, and companies must be restricted – by regulation – from giving loans to those who simply cannot afford to repay them.

“Cuts to trading standards have restricted the ability of officers to crack down on illegal loan sharks – UNISON hopes the same mistakes will not be made with the new Financial Conduct Authority.”

Pension reform: £144 still well below poverty line

UNISON warned today that many workers will still face poverty in retirement, despite the government’s claims that its proposed overhaul of the state pension system will improve pensions.

Millions of workers will also be clobbered with higher national insurance payments under the plans.

As the government today issues its long-awaited white paper on state pension reform, UNISON said that radical action was needed to halt the decline in pension provision in the UK, which stands to leave many people in financial misery in retirement.

Many employers that sponsor defined benefit pension schemes are facing an increase in national insurance contributions – which from April 2017 could be as high as 3.4%. The union said it feared this would have a knock-on effect that passed cuts onto employees, including the low paid.

Commenting on the paper, Karen Jennings, UNISON assistant general secretary said:
“These changes are being lauded as a good deal for pensioners, but it is worth remembering that £144 is still well below the poverty line, and more will need to be done to prevent workers finding themselves desperately poor in retirement.

“Who will be worse or better off following these changes will depend on salary growth, which remains stagnant for many workers, including millions in the public sector, and inflation, which continues to eat at the income of low earners.

“What is clear is that the real winner is likely to be the Treasury, who will receive a national insurance boost from pension scheme members and employers. This windfall must go back to employers otherwise there is a real risk that many will look to dumb down their current pension offerings even further.

“The government must not hide behind this as a ‘good news story’: It is their duty to guarantee that workers – and in particular the lowest paid – are not left worse off as a result of these proposals either now, or in their retirement.”

While the union welcomed the intention to simplify the confusing existing pensions system, it said it would be looking at the implications of the proposals in the white paper in detail, and would respond to the consultation in full.

The new flat-rate is designed to combine the basic state pension with the second state pension. The union pointed out that this will not affect those who already receive, or will begin receiving their state pension before the next Parliament.

'If there's money to bail out the bankers, there's money for public services'

"If there is money available to bail out the bankers, there is money available for the NHS and our schools and to get young people back to work."

That was at the heart of the message that UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis gave the huge crowd gathered in Hyde Park for a rally after the London leg of the 20 October March for a Future that Works.

Stressing that the march was not an end in itself - "Today we march - tomorrow we march on" - he told the crowd: "We march for decent pay that people can live on."

Mr Prentis went on: "We march to defend the NHS. We march to defend our community services. We march for a future that works."

And to a huge cheer, he told the government: "Hands off our public services, they are not yours to destroy".

To the crowd, he said: "We're told there's no alternative - but there is. The government could have the guts to go back to the banks and say: 'You got us into this mess - you get us out of it'.

"We're not here today for the millionaires - we're here for the millions."

Mr Prentis had started off by saying that "David Cameron and Nick Clegg are forming a boy band called No Direction" to great laughter, but on a more serious note, he had pointed out that "inequality is at levels not seen since Victorian times".

And he was cheered as he paid tribute to UNISON members marching in Glasgow and Belfast, as well as London, and welcomed South African and French trade unionists marching with the union.

Incoming TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady told the crowd: "Thank you for marching today in your tens of thousands. Thank you for standing up against the tax dodgers, the greedy bankers and this government.

"At the Conservative conference, Cameron said he wanted to spread privilege. We know what he is spreading - and it doesn’t smell good!"

And she added that, when she becomes TUC general secretary next year: "I will fight as hard for our people as that lot fight for theirs. Stay strong: united we stand."



Current TUC general secretary Brendan Barber laid it on the line when he said at the conclusion of the rally: "Britain faces a choice - a future of despair or one of hope and recovery.

"Our choice is clear: we want a future that works. Cuts, privatisation and attacks on employment rights are the road to nowhere.



"Tens of thousands are still walking along Piccadilly and coming into the park. Tens of thousands have marched in Glasgow and Belfast - all with a united message to this government: 'Austerity isn't working'."

To huge cheers, Ed Miliband said that Labour would "tax the bankers' bonuses" and "end the privatisation in the NHS".

The Labour leader added: "One nation is a country where we give hope to our young people ... A country with a future that works."

There were no cheers, though, when he said there would still be "hard choices" under a future Labour government.

In Glasgow, people gathered to hear UNISON Scotland secretary Mike Kirby speaking at the rally.

"Ordinary people are being asked to pay too high a price," he declared. "Key public services are under attack and politicians need to be told that 'enough is enough'.

"Trade union members, their families and friends know that the drastic spending cuts and attacks on benefits are hurting them and are hurting the most vulnerable people in society."

And in Belfast too, UNISON members were at the heart of the march and rally organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Have your say on the NMC fee's increase

Have your say on the NMC proposals at: www.snapsurveys.com/sol1/swh/surveylogin.asp?k=133838818964

UNISON will be responding to this consultation nationally however it is important that you also tell them what you think.

NMC fee's increase

After the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) decision to raise its yearly registration fee from £76 to £120, UNISON is calling on all members to sign an e-petition in order to get the issue debated in the UK parliament.

The e-petition is at: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34101

Over 45,000 people have already signed the petition and when a petition reaches 100,000 signatures it has to be debated in the House of Commons. The NMC is trying to justify the 58% increase in fees by claiming that it is due to a rise in the number of fitness to practice cases and the costs associated with them.

UNISON says that serious questions need to be asked about the financial management of the troubled regulatory body, which has been in special measures since 2008, and has had 6 chief executives and 3 chairs in that time.

Registration with the NMC is, in effect, a licence to practise and is compulsory for any nurse or midwife wishing to practise in the UK. Unlike other health workers such as admin & clerical or ancillary staff who are also struggling to make ends meet, nurses and midwives must pay professional registration fees every year or they cannot work.

Gail Adams, UNISON Head of Nursing said: “Hard pressed nurses and midwives will rightly be very angry about plans to make them pay more to allow them to work.”

“Not only have nurses and midwives had their pay frozen for 2 years, with 2 more years of pay austerity on the horizon, they are also having to pay more for their pensions.”

“The UK government should start applying serious scrutiny to the NMC and 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 UK government’s failure to police this body properly.”

UNISON is calling on the NMC to undertake an urgent review of its financial systems and has made it clear that it does not support the NMC fees increase.

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.”