Better Pay For Sisters - Call

January 21st 2010

Ward sisters and managers should have a minimum pay band, unions say.

Most sisters are paid on band 6, with maximum pay of some £33,000.

But Unison says this does not reflect their responsibilities - and they should be paid on band 7.

Unison has declared its backing for a Nursing Standard campaign aimed at boosting the "status and authority" of ward sisters and charge nurses.

Head of nursing Gail Adams told the magazine: "Whatever the job title, there can be only one ward manager - the nurse who is responsible for the quality of care delivered on the ward, who carries 24-hour responsibility for that care, and who manages a team of staff.

"It is very easy for ward managers to feel undermined - they have a huge amount of responsibility and are accountable for many things, but some of their authority has been taken away.

"We think setting a benchmark would go some way to tackling this problem."

The Standard says it has backing from several of the medical royal colleges.

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "Junior doctors are working different shifts and looking after patients they did not admit themselves. Nursing staff have become even more a safeguard of continuity of care on the wards."

 

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