The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Northern Ireland says it’s pressing the Northern Ireland Executive for progress on an overdue pay award for its members.
The RCM has described the delay as ‘utterly unfair’ and ‘completely demoralising’ for hard working midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs)
The Health and Social Care (HSC) Trade Unions in Northern Ireland of which the RCM is part of have issued a statement today also calling out the lack of progress and ‘broken commitments’ from the Northern Ireland Executive.
Commenting, the RCM’s interim Director for Northern Ireland, Anne Wilson said:
“It is beggars’ belief that our members find themselves in this situation once again. Despite previous repeated commitments by the Health Minister and Executive to maintain pay parity for midwives and MSWs under Agenda for Change, that promise has been broken once again. It’s an absolute disgrace that midwives and MSWs in Northern Ireland have been left in limbo again considering their colleagues across England and Wales received their uplift in August, which was back dated to 1 April. To make matters worse at this time we still have no clarity as to when they may receive their hard-earned pay award.”
The RCM says since the publication of the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) recommendations together with other health trade unions it has sought to engage with the Health Minister and other Executive Ministers to urge that swift action be taken on pay, but it’s now the lack of inaction that is frustrating its members.
Anne added:
“I can’t express how much yet another delay in receiving this year’s pay award is doing to the morale of our hardworking members, the longer they are left in the dark more undervalued they feel. Pay is one of the crucial levers in retaining staff and given the current pressures facing midwifery staff across Northern Ireland, what we don’t want to see is staff leaving services, but right now some are considering doing just that because they don’t feel valued.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Repeated commitments to pay parity with England have been made to the Agenda for Change workforce in Northern Ireland.
- In the 2024 Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Health and Agenda for Change trade unions, the Department accepted the need for ongoing pay parity with England. In responding publicly to the recommendations of the Pay Review Body in May, the Health Minister stated that he intended to honour the pay parity agreements (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c308760zr2go).
- Following industrial action by the workforce in 2019 and 2020, measures to restore pay parity with England were endorsed by the full NI Executive and pay parity was restored (https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/minister-announces-restoration-pay-parity).
- Health Trade Unions met with the Health Minister in June, where the Minister outlined the steps, he had taken to secure the funding required for a pay uplift. The Minister advised that the issue had passed to the Executive for its consideration given the budgetary position facing the health service. Health Trade Unions have since sought to engage with the First and Deputy First Ministers and Finance Minister to urge that the Executive move swiftly on the matter and avoid the unacceptable delays previously experienced in putting pay uplifts in place. We have been directed back to the Health Minister
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance, and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences, and online resources. For more information visit the RCM | A professional organisation and trade union dedicated to serving the whole midwifery team
