PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
PAY FOR NURSES, MIDWIVES AND HEALTH VISITORS (12 January 1999)

That this House pays tribute to all those who work for the National Health Service; believes that the NHS cannot do the job the public demands unless it has enough well-trained and well-motivated staff throughout the United Kingdom to deliver the high quality health care the people of Britain expect; deeply regrets the shortages of staff in many professions serving the NHS; agrees with the Health Secretary that, for reasons of staff shortages among others in many parts of the country and on many occasions, the NHS is in crisis; and, in order to meet the immediate staffing crisis, calls on the Government to announce immediately that the recommendations of the 1999 Review Body Report on Nursing Staff, Midwives and Health Visitors will be paid in full from the beginning of the financial year starting this April (without staging), to provide incentives for staff to stay in the NHS rather than work in the same professions elsewhere, and to return to work in the NHS, and in the future to present Pay Review Body reports to Parliament so that all Britain's parliamentary representatives can have the opportunity of showing by their votes what sort of pay and conditions Parliament believes that the NHS can afford.

Sponsored by:
Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon (Liberal Democrat)