Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 02 March 2021
There are many reports that vaccinators who work the same shifts at vaccine centres have vastly different rates of pay. Nurses with years of experience in vaccination are, in some cases, paid up to a third less for the same work. One nurse wrote to me and said that
“not only do contractors book shifts before nurses, as we don’t get direct access to the system, in my last shift I worked with dentists and optometrists, I was much faster but I was paid a lot less.”
A general practitioner also wrote to me to say that he had the same concerns and that the unfairness in pay rates was “harming solidarity among staff”. Is the First Minister able to take any action to ensure that pay rates are reflective of a person’s skills? Can she do anything to order health boards to ensure that there is fairness to nursing staff during the vaccination programme?