The NHS Staff Council, the body which represents more than a million workers, has voted to accept the government’s pay deal.
The council represents 12 health unions, who have been balloting members on whether to accept or reject the pay offer made by the government comprising a 5% pay rise for 2023-24 and a one-off lump sum of between £1,655 and £3,789.
Members of Unison, GMB, the Royal College of Midwives and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists voted to accept the deal, but the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite were among those to reject it.
The deal covers people working on the NHS Agenda for Change contract including nurses, ambulance workers, porters, radiographers and dietitians, but it does not cover doctors or dentists.
Unison head of health Sara Gorton, who chairs the union group on the NHS staff council, said: “NHS workers will now want the pay rise they’ve voted to accept. The hope is that the one-off payment and salary increase will be in June’s pay packets.
“But health staff shouldn’t have needed to take action in the first place. Unions made clear to ministers last summer that £1,400 wasn’t enough to stop staff leaving the NHS, nor prevent strikes. But the government wouldn’t listen.”
She added: “The NHS remains desperately short of staff too. Services can only cope with growing demand if there’s a properly resourced and well-supported workforce. Government must now work with unions to achieve just that.”
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “The decision by the NHS Staff Council trade unions to accept the pay offer they agreed with the government is very positive. It will be welcomed by NHS leaders whose teams will receive additional payments in relation to last year and a minimum 5% uplift for this financial year. Also, it commits employers and unions to working together to improve career development opportunities for NHS staff as well improving retention and protection from violence.
“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.”
Mortimer added that the soon-to-be-published NHS workforce plan is an opportunity for the government to make clear its commitment to invest in staff numbers and development, and for employers to redouble their efforts to improve workplaces across the NHS.
“Employers are committed to working with unions and government to address these continued concerns, and to implement what we hope will be an ambitious and far-reaching plan for our people and patients,” he added.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Health leaders are concerned that with four trade unions remaining in dispute with the government over this deal that the worrying prospect of further industrial action remains. 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.
“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.”
The RCN’s mandate for strike expired last, meaning it had to cut its planned 48-hour strike short. It will ballot its members for further industrial action later this month. Unite has said the council’s vote will not affect action it has planned.
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said: “Unite’s members are clear that the offer does not go far enough to stop the recruitment and retention crisis that is collapsing the NHS. In fact, the union’s decision to fight for an offer that does is driving a surge in new members.
“Fresh strike action will continue to be scheduled, alongside the opening of new industrial action ballots for those NHS workers who want to take a stand against the government’s despicable dismantling of our health service.”
The Society of Radiographers rejected the deal and is planning to ballot its members in June for industrial action, and the Royal College of Podiatry’s employment support committee is meeting to discuss its response after its members also rejected the deal.
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