21.03.18
NHS pay deal: Whitehall to drop extra day demands in favour of 6.5% rise
Government officials are expected to offer NHS staff a new £4bn pay deal today, which would see staff get an average wage increase of 6.5%.
Reportedly, the agreement will see Whitehall drop its demand that staff relinquish a day’s holiday a year in exchange for a pay rise – a provision in line with chancellor Philip Hammond’s claims that any increase would be followed by greater productivity.
More than a million people on NHS Agenda for Change contracts would be affected by the changes, which will see a phased upgrade in pay with those on the lowest wages benefitting the most.
The plans have been applauded by many in the health sector, although there are fears that a pay uplift may not come alongside additional funding, meaning the already stretched finances of the NHS could be further pressurised.
Saffron Cordery, CEO of NHS Providers, said the government needed to be held to account for its promises to provide full funding for the increase, adding that it was “vital” that any agreement covered the full three-year length of the new contracts.
Although the government has agreed to remove its demand for an extra day of holiday, the BBC has today reported that there will be efforts to reintroduce the incremental pay rise system.
Under the system, previously discounted by health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt, staff receive small increases to their wage over the course of the year, rather than annually, these can come on top of larger uplifts at the end of each term.
The contract agreement is expected to build on recent praise by Hammond in last week’s Spring Statement, during which the chancellor applauded staff for working “tirelessly” in “very challenging” circumstances.
A deal for GPs in England was unveiled yesterday and includes provision for a 1% interim pay increase, as well as further plans to assess and improve primary care premises.
Top image: Sean Dempsey, PA Images
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