All Clinical Nurses and Midwife Specialists and Clinical Placement Coordinators are invited to an online meeting on Tuesday July 2nd at 6.30pm to discuss the alignment of the CNM/CMM2 and CNS/CMS and CPC pay scales. The current impasse with the Department of Health must be ended. We want CNS/CMS members to have their say on what our next steps are.
Over the last week, we have made representations with the political leaders on this very pressing issue, reminding them of the importance of your role and the historic pay link with the CNM/CMM2 grades. As you are aware the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery recommended the following: Extend the revised PHN/CNM2/CNS salary scale by the addition of one further scale point and the introduction of a Long Service Increment.
This was reaffirmed in the recent PSA 2024-2026 Public Service Agreement. The Expert Review Body also stated that the: benefits of advanced nursing and midwifery practice are extensively evidenced in both national and international literature evidence suggests that creating a critical mass of nurses and midwives as specialist and advance nurse practitioners has benefitted service provision and patient care such as improved timely access to service, hospital avoidance, reduced waiting lists and the integration of services. The ERB anticipated that the development of Clinical Nurse Specialists particularly in the Community is essential to the development of Sláintecare and for the improvement of services as stated previously.
The INMO rejects that this Recommendation has not been applied to CNS and CPC grades. For the avoidance of doubt the INMO states that this was not agreed by the INMO and will not be tolerated. We have continuously raised this matter at both employer and political levels and we are disappointed at the slow pace in correcting the salary scales issue to ensure that the link is maintained and that the recommendation of the ERB is implemented in full.
The CNS, CMS and CPC grades were established by the Commission on Nursing in 1999 and have been aligned to the CNM2 scale since then. This delay by the employers in this regard is entirely unacceptable. We believe now that your input on the next stage of this campaign is vital.
We believe that it is necessary for us to consider all forms of action which we can take to bring this impasse to an end. In this regard I am requesting that you join an online meeting on Tuesday 2nd of July 2024 at 6.30pm.
A link to this meeting has been issued via email to all INMO members of the relevant grades. If you have not received this link please contact the INMO at 01 6640600. Please bring this meeting to the attention of your colleagues who are INMO members and encourage them to join online.