Thousands of NHS staff in Scotland have voted to accept the Scottish government’s pay offer, ending a consultation process.
Administrators, managers, occupational therapists, scientists, nursing staff, and workers in estates, porters, ambulance service, medical equipment management, catering and theatre roles and in Scotland, are represented by trade unions Unite and Unison. The Royal College of Nursing union is also due to vote on the offer.
The pay offer is a 5.5% wage uplift across all pay bands in the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale, which will result in a minimum increase for lowest-paid workers on grade one of £1,278, and a new hourly rate of £12.71. Backdated to 1 April, the overall package is estimated to be worth £448 million in 2024-25.
A total of 40,000 Unison members were consulted, with 89% of those who took part agreeing to accept the increase, while 93% of Unite’s membership voted to accept the offer.
Matt McLaughlin, lead organiser for health at Unison Scotland said: “Unison represents almost two-fifths of NHS workers and has secured the best deal currently possible. But acceptance of this offer should not lead to complacency from the Scottish government. If ministers are serious about recognising and rewarding NHS staff for the incredible job they do, they need to be far better at dealing with the annual pay round, as staff won’t see a bump in their pay until at least the end of October.”
James O’Connell, lead negotiator for the health sector at Unite, added: “Unite has secured an inflation-beating pay increase for our NHS Scotland membership. We believe the offer was the best negotiable under the present public financial circumstances, and it will provide a significant boost to take-home pay. NHS Scotland workers should be rewarded for their outstanding work and professionalism.”
NHS Scotland was contacted for comment prior to publication.
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