P&R accused of gagging deputies on nurses’ pay
MORE than 30 of Guernsey’s election candidates have signed a pledge promising to be ‘nursing champions’ if elected and support the idea of pay equality, which would cost the States an extra £50m. per year.
The principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value’ is currently scheduled to become law in 2027, and will bring nurses’ salaries in line with other public sector and civil service jobs involving similar levels of skill, responsibility and effort.
In total there were 57 candidates at the Royal College of Nursing husting event, and 36 of the potential deputies signed up to agree to pay parity within a shorter time frame of three years.
RCN Convenor Kenny Lloyd was heartened by the outcome and views expressed, and he hoped that the candidates would make good on their promises.
‘We’re not naive enough to think that politicians don’t go back on their word sometimes, but we would hope that within the small community of Guernsey that reputation does count, and that if someone signed up to be a nurse champion that they would not renege on that.’
During the meeting some sitting deputies lifted the lid on the behind-the-scenes political handling of the nurses’ pay dispute.
The suggestion was that Policy & Resources, which acts as the States’ employer, had effectively gagged other deputies from speaking out.
Mr Lloyd said it was not the first time he had heard those claims.
‘That came up from some of the sitting deputies, they said they felt powerless, which was quite a worrying thing to hear from elected politicians.
‘I know that in Guernsey we don’t like to use the term “whip”, but there’s undoubtedly a whip system in practice because that keeps coming up, a number of deputies have used that terminology.
‘I think there is a risk if that sort of practice is going on, especially for the new candidates, because the confusion could mean that they understand they’re not allowed to get involved with issues like nurses’ pay because it’s being dealt with by Policy & Resources. I think that’s worrying for democracy.
‘The reality is there are ways that deputies can raise issues through written questions and requetes, the mechanism is there.’
Along with pay parity, the local RCN wants to ensure that the chief nurse post, which became vacant earlier this year, does get filled.
The role provides leadership and senior clinical advice, and Mr Lloyd said it was a vital position.
‘That’s something that’s hugely important to nurses, there have been suggestions that they are looking at filling that position but there hasn’t been a firm, public commitment to doing that, and we think it is an absolute requirement.
‘It would be very interesting to see if the chief of the police service, or chief medical officer, or chief of the fire service left their posts would there be such a delay and ambiguity about refilling those posts? - I don’t think so.’
The RCN is planning another hustings event to allow more of the 119 candidates to attend.
The union had asked the States to email an invite to all election candidates, but a problem meant that the invite email did not go out until 3.45pm, which was just a few hours before the start time.
