- By Nick Trigle
- health correspondent
March 16, 2023 at 3:45 p.m. GMT
Updated 21 minutes ago
NHS staff in England, including nurses and ambulances, have been offered a 5% pay rise from April.
In addition, employees have been offered a one-off payment of at least £1,655 to top up last year’s bonus.
Unions are recommending members back the deal after nearly two weeks of talks with ministers, raising hopes of an end to the bitter dispute.
The offer applies to all NHS staff except doctors who have a different contract.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it was a “fair pay rise” which would also protect the Government’s commitment to halving inflation.
“I really admire the incredible work being done by the NHS staff. I look forward to continuing our work together to make the NHS a better place to work.”
He said there had been movement on both sides and praised the unions’ “constructive engagement”.
“It’s a shame it took so long”
Fourteen unions were represented at the talks, including nurses, ambulance workers, physiotherapists, midwives and support workers, including cleaners and porters.
The biggest three – the Royal College of Nursing, Unison and the GMB – have all said they support the deal.
Unite has said it cannot recommend it to members, but it will put it up for vote.
Unisono chief health officer Sara Gorton said: “It’s a shame it’s taken so long to get here.
“Healthcare workers have had to strike for many days and thousands have had to threaten to join them to get their unions in the room and have proper conversations.”
She said if her members accepted the deal, it would mean a “significant” pay rise.
RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen added: “Members made the most difficult decisions to go on strike and I believe they were confirmed today.”
It comes after a winter of industrial action that saw nurses, ambulances and physiotherapists on strike.
Unions have put further action on hold after both sides agreed to start talks last month.
‘Sigh of Relief’
NHS staff have seen their pay rise by an average of 4.75% over 2022-23 – with the lowest paid getting the biggest increases – but unions had been demanding increases above inflation – which at one point amounted to an increase of more would have than 14%.
The one-off payment to top up this salary bonus starts at £1,655 for the lowest paid staff such as cleaners and porters and rises to just over £2,400 for the most senior front-line positions such as porters. B. Nursing Advisor. For senior staff such as directors of care and chief financial officers, the one-off payment is up to £3,789.
An offer of 3.5% from April for the 2023-24 financial year had originally been proposed by the government, but during talks ministers agreed to increase it to 5%. The lowest paid get more.
Matthew Taylor of the NHS Confederation, which represents managers, said health leaders were “breathing a sigh of relief”. “We are now awaiting the union members’ decision.”
He also called on the British Medical Association to start talks – young doctors took part in a three-day strike this week to secure a 35% pay rise.
They say this is necessary to offset the past 15 years of below-inflationary wage increases.
Ministers have offered the BMA talks on the same basis as with the other unions, but the BMA said no.
They said the salary demands of the young doctors were prohibitive.
Strike action has also been suspended by most unions in Wales and Scotland while new offers are considered. The GMB in Scotland has announced it will accept the Scottish offer worth 14% over two years.