NHS Agenda for Change staff in Scotland have been offered “the best pay package in the UK” according to the Scottish Government as it looks to invest more than £448m into the workforce for 2024/25.
The new offer constitutes a 5.5% pay rise for all staff, meaning 170,000 people – including nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others – will benefit from the better pay with a backdate of 1 April 2024.
“Following weeks of constructive engagement with trade union representatives, I am pleased to have agreed an offer, in recognition of the Pay Review Body recommendations, that will ensure Scotland’s nurses and NHS staff have the best pay package in the UK,” said Scotland’s health secretary, Neil Gray.
“The unions will now consult their members and I hope it will be accepted.”
Examples of increases for 2024/25 include experienced:
- porters (band 2) to receive £1,395;
- healthcare support workers (band 4) to receive £1,651;
- staff nurses (band 5) to receive £2,072; and
- paramedics (band 6) to receive £2,535.
Gray added: “I want to express my thanks again to Scotland’s hardworking healthcare staff for their commitment and patience – they are the very backbone of the NHS and we are committed to supporting them, particularly during a cost of living crisis.
“I am grateful for the continued efforts around the table and that the trade unions will now put this to their members.”
Responding to the offer, Colin Poolman, who is director at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland, said: “It has taken months of pressure from the RCN and other health trade unions to get to this point. Nursing staff are rightly frustrated that the Scottish government has kept them waiting while the cost of living continued to increase.
“Our pay claim, submitted in February, called for an offer that reflects increases in living costs and begins to address the historic erosion of pay. Our members will decide if today’s announcement is enough. That process begins with RCN Scotland Board members looking at the offer in detail.”
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