NHS pay: nurses could be offered 5.5% rise
Posted 22 July 2024 - 15:00
According to reports the NHS pay review body has recommended a rise of 5.5% for nurses, with RCN saying it will ballot members before accepting any offer
Picture: John Houlihan
Nurses working in the NHS could be offered a 5.5% pay rise by the government, it has been claimed, after reports that an above-inflation pay rise has been advised by pay review bodies.
According to The Times newspaper, the NHS Pay review body (RB) has recommended a pay rise of 5.5% for 1.3 million NHS staff on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts, including nurses. The same advice has been given for teachers, it says. The Telegraph newspaper carried a similar report.
In June the RB confirmed to Nursing Standard that its report of recommendations on pay for staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had been submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). However, it could not be published straight away due to rules around the general election campaigns.
Traditionally the government accepts the recommendations of the pay review bodies, with only a few exceptions, so health and social care secretary Wes Streeting will be under pressure to offer staff the RB’s recommendation as a minimum.
Once agreed any pay rise will be backdated to April 2024
The DHSC and the Treasury would not confirm when they plan to publish the recommendations from the RB.
A government spokesperson said: ‘The pay review process is ongoing, and no final decisions have been made. We will update in due course. However, we are under no illusions about the scale of the fiscal inheritance we face.’
The 2024-25 pay rise for staff has already gone through after months of delays, after previous health secretary Victoria Aitkens waited until December to initiate the process. Once finally agreed it will need to be backdated to April 2024.
The RCN told Nursing Standard it will receive confirmation of the pay award from the RB, but any offer would have to go to a vote by members before being accepted.
Pay award must be fair and begin to turn around a broken NHS, says RCN
An RCN spokesperson said: ‘The pay award must be fair and begin to turn around a broken NHS. We will always give nursing staff a vote on whether they accept it.’
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said today that the government would take a ‘sensible approach’ to the recommendations.
Speaking at the Farnborough International Air Show, he added: ‘The chancellor is doing a full analysis of the financial constraints and challenges and will be making announcements in due course in relation to this.’
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