NHS trade unions have formally accepted a revised pay offer for health service staff made earlier this year.
NHS Employers has provided trusts with the information they need to implement the 2007 pay award for staff.
This means that NHS staff could receive their pay award in their November pay packets and will also receive backdated pay from 1 April 2007.
The deal affects about a million non-medical staff on Agenda for Change pay bands.
Lower-paid staff will be guaranteed an minimum annual increase in salary of £400. Staff in higher pay bands will get 2.5% in salary plus an additional £38 towards professional fees.
The offer also includes a commitment to discuss a three-year pay deal.
Health service unions had been threatening to strike because of the below inflation pay increase offered. The original offer was a 2.5% staged pay increase with 1.5% payable from April 2007 and the balance from 1 November 2007.
Gill Bellord, head of pay and negotiations at NHS Employers, said: “Over the past few months the NHS trade unions have been consulting with their members to get their views on the offer. The majority of the NHS trade unions have now voted through the staff council to accept the revised offer.
“We hope that payroll providers will be able to get the pay rises to staff in their November pay packets.”
