HUNDREDS of nurses in Gwent have had a recent wage rise delayed because their posts have not yet been rebanded in an NHS modernisation programme.

Almost two-thirds of NHS nurses in Wales are still going through the Agenda For Change (A4C) process, and will not get a 2.5 per cent pay increase until completion, said Angela Haley, Royal College of Nursing Wales board member for Gwent.

That could mean delayed payment of several hundreds of pounds in wages for many individual frontline staff in the area's hospitals.

The impact of Agenda For Change is being debated at this week's Royal College of Nursing Congress in Bournemouth. Mrs Haley, a nurse specialist at St Woolos Hospital, said only 35 per cent of nurses have been switched to A4C pay arrangements.

"Sixty-five per cent of us have not been told what band we are likely to be on," she said.

"The pay award, starting this month is 2.5 per cent. Those who have been through A4C will get it, those remaining on the old Whitley pay scale will not.

"Agenda For Change has been a long process. Nurses submitted job descriptions but many were sent back with queries. We've no idea when all nurses will be assimilated."

Mrs Haley said the situation is bringing down morale, not helped by the issue of NHS overspending.

"We are told almost daily about budget constraints and overspends, and a lot of that is insinuated as being down to nurse budgets," she said. "That's curious considering only 35 per cent of nurses have been assimilated (onto A4C).

"The whole idea was to reward experienced nurses and keep them in the profession. On the other hand we are told we are an expensive commodity.

"Nurses are a special breed and tend to err toward positivity. The public might not be aware of low morale because we tend to hide it behind our professionalism, but it's there."

In implementing Agenda For Change Wales lags behind England, where 97 per cent of NHS staff have switched. The Wales figure is around two thirds.

Nearly 7,000 (58 per cent) of Gwent Healthcare Trust staff in total have completed the A4C process.