No new offer from Manx Care in nurses pay row

Members of the Royal College of Nursing rejected Manx Care's latest offer

Manx Care cannot afford to offer a higher pay offer to nurses, the healthcare provider's CEO has said.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) voted in support of taking strike action last month.

Members rejected the latest pay offer of a 6% rise coupled with a £1,000 lump sum, which its CEO Teresa Cope said was Manx Care's "best and final offer".

The organisation was already expecting to post another £14m overspend in the current financial year, she said.

Of the £14m in additional funding awarded by the Treasury last year, £9m was needed to cover pay rises awarded in that financial year, Ms Cope said.

She said the "inflation based pay award of 6%, plus a further £1,000 consolidated offer" would now be implemented.

"We recognise, acknowledge and respect that they have made a decision to take industrial action," she said.

"We're not in a position to offer any more."

Teresa Cope said being in dispute over pay for a second year was "not a great place" to be

She said Manx Care was working with RCN to "mitigate the impact" of and possible industrial action by the 550 union members who work for the government-funded healthcare provider, so it would have "minimal impact on patients and services".

It was "really tricky" as it would be the second year of "effectively being in pay dispute with one of our main staff side organisations, which is not a great place we would want to be", she said.

The health body had made strides in recruitment despite challenges, and had employed a number of overseas nurses, Ms Cope said.

Manx Care had also committed to double the number of student nurse places to "grow our own heroes and train people on island", she said.

The organisation would submit its funding requests for the next financial year within six weeks, she added.