NHS staff across England and Wales will receive a 3.3% pay rise from April after ministers accepted the recommendation of the independent review body. Unions say the increase falls short of inflation and warn workers will see it as another real-terms cut…reports Asian Lite News
NHS staff in England and Wales are to receive a 3.3% pay rise in the next financial year, the government has confirmed. The uplift, due to be in pay packets from the start of April, follows the independent pay review body’s recommendation and applies to around 1.5 million workers across the health service.
The award covers the majority of the workforce, including nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and porters. Doctors, dentists and senior managers are excluded, with a separate process underway for their pay.
The Department of Health and Social Care initially proposed a lower figure but said it accepted the 3.3% recommendation to demonstrate its commitment to NHS staff. The Welsh government has also received the award.
A number of unions reacted with disappointment, arguing the rise is below the current level of consumer price index inflation, which stands at 3.4% and tracks how prices have changed over the past year. Royal College of Nursing general secretary Prof Nicola Ranger said: “A pay award below the current level of inflation is an insult. Unless inflation falls, the government is forcing a very real pay cut on its NHS workers. This knife-edge game-playing is no way to treat people who prop up a system in crisis.” She added she would wait to see what settlements were reached across the rest of the public sector and for doctors before deciding on the union’s next steps.
Last year the RCN voiced anger after resident doctors in England received 5.4% compared with 3.6% for nurses, describing the difference at the time as grotesque.
“Nursing staff will not tolerate the disrespect of other years, when we were bottom of the pile,” Prof Ranger added.
Helga Pile, head of health at Unison, said: “Hard-pressed NHS staff will be downright angry at another below-inflation pay award. Yet again, they’re expected to keep delivering more while effectively being given less, as pay slides behind living costs.”
Ministers in England said the award did represent an above-inflation settlement when measured against forecasts for the coming year, which they put at about 2%. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This government hugely appreciates the incredible work of talented staff across our NHS.”
The same 3.3% recommendation has been made for Northern Ireland, although no final decision has yet been taken. Ministers there have indicated they want to proceed if budgets permit. No timetable has been given for an announcement on doctors’ pay. The review body that advises on their salaries is understood not yet to have submitted its report to ministers.
Talks are continuing between the government and the British Medical Association, which represents resident doctors, the new term for junior doctors. BMA members have recently voted in favour of strike action, giving them a further six-month mandate for walkouts, with 14 strikes already held during the dispute.
