Closed petition Raise income tax to increase nurse pay in the NHS.

Closed on 22 June 2023

Raise the basic rate of income tax by 1p, the higher rate by 2p and the additional rate by 5p in the £. The funds raised should be ring-fenced to improve the salaries and bursaries for Nursing in the NHS to drive recruitment, retention and morale amongst this invaluable resource.

Nurses have taken a real-terms pay cut in recent years, despite hospitals getting increasingly busier through a growing, and ageing, population. They are expected to take on the debt associated with university education. This has caused a significant recruitment shortfall, exacerbated by a more limited access to European nursing talent, and driven morale of nurses into the ground, in turn generating a retention issue.