Nurses tour Isle of Man as a matter of dignity, union member says

Nursing union members began the tour outside Noble's Hospital

Isle of Man nurses have taken a campaign bus on the road as "a matter dignity", the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has said.

Members voted for industrial action in June, after rejecting the latest offer from Manx Care of a 6% rise with a £1,000 lump sum in June.

The island tour aimed to help nurses engage with the public over the action.

RCN representative Francesca Marzocca said higher pay was needed to keep more people in the profession.

Ms Marzocca said she wanted to make people "aware of what it is we're really asking for", as staffing levels were often below 100%, which was "dangerous for the patients, dangerous for the community, and dangerous for us".

Francesca Marzocca said it was important people knew why nurses were campaigning

A further 5% pay increase would also make nursing on the island more appealing to people from further afield, she added.

The campaign bus tour, which visited Ramsey, Peel and Castletown, was not official industrial action.

Peel resident Cath Smith said everyone should "support the nurses and any frontline staff".

She said if Manx Care did not pay a good wages it would make it difficult to "attract anybody to come and live and work on the island".

Peel resident Cath Smith said she supported the nurses call for improved pay

Graham Clarke, from Port Erin, said he also supported the cause as nurses deserved a "good" pay rise.

Nursing and education were "the two most important things" an it was "sad" to see nurses struggling, he said.

Graham Clarke said he was grateful to the health service following knee operations

Government minister Clare Barber MHK, who is a registered nurse, also spoke to RCN members outside Noble's Hospital.

She said: "I absolutely understand some of the work pressures that being a nurse takes."

Ms Barber said it was important that she could be a "voice at the table" within the government to talk about what nursing pressures were like "in reality".

However she said the government had the difficult task of making sure any pay rises awarded would be "sustainable" each year.

Clare Barber MHK spoke to some of the nurses taking part in the tour of the island on Wednesday

Nurses took strike action for the first time on the Isle of Man last month, but any further plans for industrial action are yet to be confirmed.

Manx Care CEO Teresa Cope previously said the health care body "respected and supported" members' decision to strike.