July 27, 2017 11.19 am This story is over 80 months old

Royal College of Nursing members hold protest at Lincoln Hospital against 1% pay cap

Pay cap protest: Protesters gather outside Lincoln Hospital against the 1% pay cap on NHS staff
Protesters are gathering outside Lincoln County Hospital today against the 1% pay cap on NHS staff

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are protesting outside Lincoln County Hospital today against the 1% pay cap on NHS staff.

The protest is being held at the main entrance of Lincoln County Hospital today (Thursday, July 27) until 3pm.

Following a ballot of members earlier this year, the RCN decided to hold a summer of protests.

Should this fail to get the change needed, the RCN have said members will be balloted on industrial action.

Stephen Jobling, RCN North Lincolnshire Branch Secretary told The Lincolnite: “Our campaign is against the government’s refusal to remove the 1% pay cap on NHS staff.

“The pressure within the NHS is growing year on year, and the real term pay cut of 14% is causing people to leave the profession and leaving those over stretched and feeling undervalued.

“On top of this there is now a registered nurse crisis, there are 40,000 vacancies in England, and for the first time on record more nurses are leaving than joining the profession.

“Our event is to raise the profile of our campaign with staff and the public. We will be asking people to fill in one of our postcards that we send to their MP urging them to press the government to lift the 1% cap.

“We are also be asking people to have their photo taken with our message board to share on social media using the RCN’s campaign #ScrapTheCap.”