Campaign to improve pay for RCM members continues

22 January, 2025

3 minutes read

Members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) were in London this week giving oral evidence about the lived experience of midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB). They were joined by RCM staff who also urged the PRB to consider the bigger picture when it comes to pay and staff retention.

The RCM has told the PRB that the 5.5% pay award for 2024/25 was just a start to addressing the years of real terms loss of pay. Describing the 2.8% figure that the Westminster Government has deemed to be affordable for NHS pay this year as ā€˜not good enoughā€™, the RCM has warned that this will worsen the current staffing issues. Not only does this impact on staff, but also the quality and level of maternity care women are receiving.

Commenting, RCMā€™s Director for Employment Relations, Alice Sorby, said:

ā€œPaying staff fairly and valuing the skilled work they do is an important part of the solution to the maternity staffing crisis. Weā€™ve said this consistently to the PRB, both in our written evidence in November and our oral evidence too. Today they got to hear it from the horseā€™s mouth, from real midwives and maternity support workers. They told the PRB in no uncertain terms about the impact that years of below inflation pay awards has had on them and their colleagues.

ā€œThe 5.5% award last year was a first step, and the longer-term goal must be to restore the pay lost by NHS staff. Yesterday we reminded the PRB that improving pay is a key lever in retaining staff alongside flexible working arrangements. Our members have told us that lack of flexible working opportunities alongside pay, are among the top reasons why they are considering leaving the profession.ā€

The RCM has also highlighted findings from a recent survey of Heads and Directors of Midwifery survey that saw some managers citing the retention of maternity support workers was getting increasingly difficult due to pay.

After giving evidence to the PRB, MSW Chrissy Walsh said:

ā€œIt was so reassuring to sit and witness RCM staff speak so passionately and accurately on behalf of RCM members, and I really appreciated the opportunity to attend and have my voice heard. During the evidence session I was able to share my and my colleagues lived experience of the low pay scale we have to survive on. The Governments suggestion of a 2.8% pay award for this year and left MSWs and midwives feeling demoralised and undervalued. NHS Maternity staff deserve to be paid a salary that allows them to feel valued, safe and secure, enabling them to thrive. Not a low salary that just about lets them survive.ā€

Barbara Kuypers, Chair of the RCMā€™s Board was also in attendance and commenting said: ā€œAs a varied a team of attendees we were able to cover many issues impacting RCM members and make a strong case for improving pay. It was good to give my own perspective as Chair of the RCM Board on the impact pay is having on recruitment and retention to the profession and on leadership in our maternity services.ā€

The RCM also used its evidence session to call out the Governmentā€™s decision to use a proportion of the 2025/26 pay award funding for structural talks. The RCM pointed out that the Government accepted that PRB recommendation in 2024, but has not honoured it. Asking the PRB to consider this as part of the upcoming pay round is ā€˜completely unacceptableā€™ says the RCM who have long called for work to be undertaken on the current structure as a whole rather than individual pay points in isolation.

Alice added:

ā€œLast year, yet again our members in England and Wales received their pay awards late, and in Northern Ireland midwives and MSWs are yet to receive the pay award. Weā€™ve highlighted this again to the PRB and the damage it continues to do the morale of staff, many of whom feel disillusioned with the entire PRB process. This Government has said it wants to get timings back on track, and this is something we will be monitoring closely. We want all our members to receive their pay increase on time in 2025 and we will be pushing hard for that.ā€

You can read the RCMā€™s full evidence to the PRB for 2025/26 pay round in fullĀ here. The PRBā€™s remit is for England, Wales and Northern and pay for members in Scotland will be decided by collective bargaining

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