No national agreement over Royal Wedding pay for NHS staff

NHS Employers has said it is “disappointed” at health unions’ rejection of its Royal Wedding pay proposal.

It said the bank holiday on April 29 is costing the NHS £200 million, but that this would rise to £230 million if staff were paid enhanced rates.

A spokesman said: “Employers recognise that staff will want to celebrate the Royal Wedding and this proposal means many of them will be able to have paid time off on the day of the wedding. Those staff that will need to work to care for patients on the day will be able to take a paid day off at a later time.

“The NHS is facing a very challenging financial climate and employers are looking for arrangements which help them meet that challenge while also protecting jobs and continuity of services for patients.

“In that light, the NHS Employers organisation is disappointed that almost all the health trade unions have not accepted this fair proposal for the Royal Wedding bank holiday. We acknowledge that doctors, through the BMA, have accepted this proposal and we welcome their support.

“The inability to reach agreement on this issue means individual NHS organisations will now have to decide pay rates for the bank holiday at local level, and trade unions will need to enter into local pay bargaining.”

The RCN called the proposal “unfair” and “mean-spirited”.

Unison senior national officer for health Mike Jackson said: “The governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and now some hospital trusts in England, have agreed to pay staff at bank holiday rates. We expect fairness across the whole of the NHS.

“NHS Employers are further hitting morale at a time when there is not much for staff to celebrate. They face a two-year pay freeze as well as swingeing job cuts – it is not much to ask that they be paid what they are entitled to.”