Rhondda-based MEP Jill Evans is disgusted with the Labour Government in the Assembly for their shabby treatment of nurses. The Scottish Parliament has decided to give the nurses their pay rise of 2.5% in one go in April but Labour in the Assembly is clinging to Gordon Brown’s edict that the rise must be staggered throughout the year. This is equivilent to a rise of just 1.9%, well below the rate of inflation.

Jill Evans said,

“We all know what a mess the health service is in under this Labour government. We all know, too, the fantastic job done by doctors and nurses despite the problems. So, I was disgusted to hear in my meeting with a Rhondda nurse this week that their pay is actually being cut by the government. A new pay system has been brought in and many will lose hundreds of pounds a year. The Royal College of Nursing estimates that the average nurse will lose £570 a year.

Even their miserly annual pay rise is being staggered between April and November which means it won’t be worth 2.5% but will go down to 1.9%. Inflation is now 4.6%.

Jill Evans continued,

“The Scottish Parliament decided to give nurses in Scotland their pay rise in one go on 1st April. The Assembly in Wales doesn’t have the power to even do that! It really is time for a change in the way the health service is run. It should be rooted in our local communities and be about promoting wellbeing as well as treating illness.”

A Plaid Cymru government would stop the hospital closure programme (delayed by Labour until after the elections in May) and create a new community health service for the people of Wales.