MORE than 30 nurses in north Shropshire are calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to increase their pay as part of a spending review this week.

The 34 nurses in north Shropshire are among hundreds across the West Midlands urging the government to increase their pay.

In Shropshire, 29 nurses in Shrewsbury and Atcham, 15 in Telford and 14 in Ludlow have also backed calls for a 12.5 per cent pay rise, made by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

The 92 nurses have written to their MPs calling for a pay increase in recognition of their work.

RCN chief executive and general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair said the Chancellor ‘must make the right decision’.

She added: “There isn’t an MP across the UK who can say they haven’t heard of our aim.

“The sheer numbers of people who have written, asking for politicians’ support, shows the high esteem in which the public holds nursing staff.

“Even though nursing staff have tackled a global pandemic with 50,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS across the UK, the government continues to undervalue them.

“It can’t hope to fill staffing shortages with our current poor pay levels.”

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has claimed members feel “undervalued” and that they are being driven out by “poor pay levels”.

Mr Sunak is expected to impose a public sector pay freeze in his spending review this week, but it is understood NHS nurses and doctors could be exempt.

Across the West Midlands, 1,090 RCN members have written to their MPs, as well as 48 non-members.

They help make up the 15,833 who have written to their MP nationally.

The RCN says the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with staffing shortages, has shown the public how deserving nurses are of “fair pay”.

It will hold a virtual rally in support of its Fair Pay for Nursing campaign.