Two district nurses in Scotland are set to strike amid an ongoing battle for a role regrade and related pay rise that was first proposed by their employer seven years ago.
The move is thought to be the first strike action taken within NHS Scotland since the Scottish National Party came into power in 2007.
Shona Middleton and Cathy Fugaccia, who are both district nurses working for NHS Tayside in the Scottish council area of Angus, will strike on the first two days of April 2025.
GMB Scotland, the union representing the nurses, said it had served formal notice yesterday for the action to take place.
The situation stems from a job review, carried out by their employer between 2018 and 2019, which found that Ms Middleton and Ms Fugaccia deserved to be employed at band 7 rather than band 6.
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But NHS Tayside has since refused to implement the change and the nurses are headed for an employment tribunal next month, the union said.
The higher band would now mean a pay rise of up to £7,000 a year, adding up to £49,000 since 2018.
Ms Middleton, who has worked as a district nurse in Monifeith for 28 years, says the struggle to have their regrading recognised has taken far too long and should not have happened.
She said: ‘We’ve been given one explanation after another and the goalposts keep changing.’
Cathy Fugaccia, who has been a district nurse since 1993, said: ‘We have our job to do, but for years, this issue has been a constant burden. It’s exhausting.’
A team of local GPs have also written to the minister, asking him to step-in before the planned employment tribunal.
If the tribunal goes ahead, the nurses can only be awarded up to two years of back pay, instead of the seven years allegedly owed to them.
The letter, signed by GPs, says the nurses have taken on additional roles since 2018, with the belief that their pay would rise in line with their additional responsibilities.
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‘Regretfully, they have been denied that recognition by NHS Tayside who forced them to an employment tribunal and strike action,’ the doctors write.
They ask the first minister to ‘secure these nurses the fair pay they deserve’.
Karen Leonard, NHS Scotland organiser at GMB Scotland, said striking was ‘the last thing’ the nurses wanted to do.
‘Two committed nurses have been forced to fight for money that belongs to them while NHS Tayside repeatedly misrepresent the situation and promises made and broken.
‘It is disgraceful that managers are using public money to dispute a clear injustice and force these women to a tribunal where they can only ever win a fraction of the money owed.’
The nurses’ efforts are also being supported by Michael Marra, MSP North East Scotland, who previously said the nurse’s experience was ‘entirely unacceptable’ and called upon NHS Tayside to ‘get their act together’.
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A spokesperson for NHS Tayside confirmed the board had received notice of the strike and remain in ‘active communication’ with the nurses and GMB Scotland to try and ‘resolve their outstanding issues.’
‘We are committed to achieving a resolution in partnership through our jointly-agreed processes.’
The Scottish Government have been contacted for comment.
