FOR the good of his members, Cllr Gez Kirby, PCS union office for National Statistics Group president should encourage his Welsh Labour party to follow the SNP up in Scotland over NHS pay. 

The Scottish nationalist government has announced that from next year the public sector pay cap will be lifted, ensuring that public sector pay increases better reflect rising living costs.

The SNP government has paid all staff within its pay policy, including NHS staff, the real living wage since 2011 and was the first administration in the UK to be an accredited living wage employer. We’ve also now extended the real living wage to all social care staff.

In our NHS we have ensured that staff gets the pay increases in line with independent recommendations. That means that nurses in Scotland are better paid than anywhere else in the UK. Even Northern Ireland will have a NHS better than Wales thanks to the DUP’s deal with the Tories. By paying more money to the NHS staff this will be easy to retain and keep staffing levels up while encouraging more to join. 

Currently qualified nurses are leaving the NHS to work with agency. Which cost the health boards thousands of pounds using agency nurses to fill those vacant holes?

Andrew Nutt 
Heolddu Road 
Bargoed