Health Unions Accept NHS Pay Offer for England

NHS workers on the picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital, London, on May 1, 2023. (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

NHS staff in England including nurses, midwives, and ambulance staff are set to get a five percent pay rise after most health unions voted to accept the government’s pay offer on Tuesday.

The deal also includes a one-off payment for 2022 that equals 2 percent of one’s salary, and a one-off “NHS backlog bonus“ for staff under the ”Agenda for Change” pay system.

All but four unions agreed to the deal during an NHS staff council meeting on Tuesday, meaning members of all unions will receive the offer.

But Unite and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which voted against the deal, have threatened to stage further strikes.

Reacting to the voting result, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he was “pleased” the offer was accepted, and confirmed that he intends to implement the offer from next month.

Undated file photo of Health Secretary Steve Barclay. (Jane Barlow/PA Media)

He also said of the offer is “final,” and urged dissenting unions to “recognise the collective decision.”

“It was negotiated collectively, the RCN were at the negotiating table, indeed [RCN general secretary] Pat Cullen recommended this deal to her own members,” he said.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, hailed the “very positive” result, saying it will be welcomed by NHS leaders.

“With four unions having rejected the pay deal individually for their members, we await confirmation of their plans. However, all unions, whether they have voted to accept the deal or not, as well as NHS leaders themselves, remain concerned about the impact of the cost of living on their members and colleagues, in addition to feeling worried about the present difficulties facing their patients and communities,” the statement reads.

More Strikes Possible

Unions in March and April balloted their members on the pay deal and the voting results have been split across different unions.

Members of Union, GMB, the Royal College of Midwives, the British and Irish Orthoptic Society, and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have voted to accept the offer, while members of RCN, Unite, the Royal College of Podiatry, and the Society of Radiographers voted to reject the deal.

After the vote on Tuesday, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement that the offer will not solve the NHS’s crippling staff shortage and called on the government to reopen negotiations.

She also said the NHS staff council vote is “not binding on individual unions” and therefore “will not stop Unite representing the best interests of our members.”

Some 4,000 Unite members, including staff at some hospitals and ambulance services, currently have a strike mandate.

Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said the union will continue to schedule new strikes and re-ballot more NHS members on further actions.

RCN’s strike mandate expired on Monday night. The union said it will open a new ballot later this month to seek a new six-month mandate.

Cullen told the BBC that the dispute is “far from over” as the government is still negotiating with junior doctors and other healthcare workers represented by Unite.

Striking NHS junior doctors on the picket line outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, on March 13, 2023. (Jacob King/PA)

The health secretary has also met junior doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) to discuss the row over pay.

Doctors are campaigning for “full pay restoration,” saying that wages have been cut by more than a quarter since 2008.

But the government has said that matching the demands of the union is “unaffordable.”

Barclay told reporters that the deal covering Agenda for Change staff showed that the government was prepared to work with unions and “I hope that we can take that into the discussions with junior doctors.”

“I think what the deal with the Staff Council shows is the willingness of the government to enter into meaningful, constructive negotiations with trade unions,” he said.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said health leaders are “concerned” over more possible strikes as four trade unions remain in dispute.

“Added to that, health leaders are eager for a resolution to be agreed between the government and BMA, as the last junior doctors strikes saw 196,000 appointments and planned procedures needing to be postponed,” he said.

“So, while the NHS Staff Council outcome is very positive news overall, it is not the line in the sand that will allow the NHS and those relying on its care to confidently move on from the threat of future strikes, or from the underlying issues affecting the NHS that led to this activity being felt as necessary in the first place.”

Teachers represented by the National Education Union (NEU) are also striking on Tuesday. The NEU and three other teachers’ unions, the NAHT, the ASCL, and the NASUWT, last week announced they will coordinate future actions.

PA Media contributed to this report.