'Low pay and poor conditions are driving nurses out of the profession': Below inflation pay rise slammed by NI body
A below-inflation pay rise for nurses has been slammed by a Northern Irish body representing the field – who add that, unlike in England and Wales, there’s not even a guarantee on when staff in Ulster will get the wage hike.
Today the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) suggested a pay rise of 3.3% for nursing staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The current rate of inflation is 3.4%, however, and experts don’t think it’ll drop any time soon.
The Northern Ireland executive director of the Royal College of Nurses (RCN), Rita Devlin, argues that without inflation going down by a significant margin, the 3.3% pay increase amounts to “a real‑terms pay cut for health service staff”.
She stated: “This year, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, unions were led to expect direct negotiations with the government over this award. However, this hasn’t happened and we are left, once again, with the PRB recommendation.
“The RCN, alongside most other unions, withdrew from the PRB in 2025 as we do not consider it fit for purpose, and it continues to fail nursing staff.
“The evidence is clear - low pay and poor working conditions are driving nurses out of the profession. Morale is at an all‑time low and nursing staff, who already feel deeply undervalued, are leaving. We must address these issues if we are to deliver safe care to the people of Northern Ireland.”
Westminster had already stated that whatever the PRB recommends will be introduced for England and Wales in April; although Stormont could be expected to introduce it in Northern Ireland as well, as yet there’s no guarantee that will happen and no timeframe for doing so.
Said Ms Devlin: “Nursing staff in Northern Ireland are yet again being left without any certainty about when they will receive [their pay award].
“The Health Minister has stated his intention to act once a budget is agreed, but this cannot be an open‑ended promise and must be resolved urgently. It is indefensible that the absence of a Northern Ireland budget is blocking hardworking nursing staff from receiving the pay they are owed.”
The RCN, she stated, will now compare the rise with other NHS pay settlements, adding: “Nursing staff will not accept being left at the very bottom of the queue.”