She said that nurses, midwives and auxiliaries have taken the decision to reject the offer which is likely to take them to arbitration because they have seen other groups being dealt with more favourably.Miss Ward claims that nurses are particularly frustrated as they struggle with staff shortages on the wards only to see more advertisements for health administration staff.
She said that there was a great deal of unrest at the Hospital.It appeared easier for middle and senior management in administration to obtain pay increments than those working on the ward floors, she said.Miss Ward, the Nurses and Midwives Joint Executive Staff Side chairman, said she realised that employers faced difficulties attracting nurses in an ever decreasing market, but there was more that could be done to improve the situation.’Advertisements appear regularly for administrative officers but when a vacancy for a nurse occurs often a two or three month delay takes place before recruitment leaving staff under even more pressure,’ she said.Miss Ward said that one of the main problems nurses were faced with was paying the high price of accommodation in the Island.In London, for example, nursing pay had been brought in line with Jersey because employers recognised accommodation expenses and included them in pay deals.’Unless Jersey maintains a differential from the UK when it comes to offering nurses a good deal we will not be able to recruit experienced staff,’ she said.She highlighted particular pressures on nurses working in elderly care as well as in mental health and those caring for people with learning disabilities.The rejected offer was for a 4.5 per cent pay increase the first year and one of 5.15 per cent the second – an offer accepted by manual workers.Nurses were seeking pay, conditions and opportunities to match the work they did, she said.Emphasising that nurses had not taken the decision to reject the pay offer lightly, she said it was the last resort following lengthy talks and conciliation which had failed to produce a satisfactory outcome.Urgent talks will now be sought with employers about whether arbitration, in which the decision is binding, will be an acceptable next move.Health and Social Services president Senator Stuart Syvret and acting chief executive Anton Skinner could not be contacted.
