title: 'Grade D minimum' for all enrolled nurses.
abstract: This year's pay award, which has given newly qualified nurses a 12 per cent pay rise and others 4.7 per cent, has opened up a £485 gulf between the top of grade C and the bottom of grade D. About 4,000 ENs are employed on grade C. The move has prompted the RCN to call on the NHS Confederation, which represents health authorities and trusts, to ensure that 'grade D should be the minimum for all registered nurses'. In a letter to the Confederation, the RCN wrote: 'Enrolled nurses on grade C are dismayed that newly qualified registered nurses will earn nearly £500 more than them. This is despite the fact enrolled nurses will all have been qualified for at least eight years.'