By Charlotte Webster-
The Uk Government is finally prepared to increase NHS Workers pay rise after Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been under a huge amount of pressure to announce a pay rise for NHS staff before parliament breaks up for summer next week.
A pay rise is expected to be announced tomorrow, Tuesday, after long campaigns for a pay increase for their workers.
Unison, the second-largest trade union in the UK, has been campaigning for a £2,000 increase for almost a year- it has been over 100 days since a pay rise was due. Health staff have been increasingly worried that ministers will not announce an NHS pay rise before MPs go on their summer break.
Staff who’ve done so much during the pandemic are being treated as an afterthought while MPs head off on their holidays, and infections are rising which means pressure is piling back on the whole health team once again
The NHS pay review body (PRB) reported to ministers three weeks ago following a recommendation by the Government that no more than 1% could be afforded, which sparked anger among NHS staff.
In May, health workers across Scotland accepted a pay rise from the Scottish Government that is worth at least 4% for most staff.
Unison’s head of health Sara Gorton said: “It’s in Boris Johnson’s gift to grant staff a fair deal. Yet he’s still making them wait.
“It’s 320 days since Unison wrote to Boris Johnson asking for a £2,000 increase for every NHS worker, but health workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland still don’t know what they’ll get.
“Staff who’ve done so much during the pandemic are being treated as an afterthought while MPs head off on their holidays, and infections are rising which means pressure is piling back on the whole health team once again.
“The least the Government can do is confirm now that staff will get a decent pay rise.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are incredibly grateful to all our NHS staff. This year the Government has committed to providing NHS staff with a pay uplift, at a time when uplifts in the wider public sector have been paused. In doing so, the Government is acknowledging the extraordinary effort of NHS staff through the pandemic.
“We have received the reports from the independent Pay Review Bodies and are now carefully considering their recommendations before responding.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘We are incredibly grateful to all our NHS staff. This year the government has committed to providing NHS staff with a pay uplift, at a time when uplifts in the wider public sector have been paused. In doing so, the government is acknowledging the extraordinary effort of NHS staff through the pandemic.’
‘We have received the reports from the independent pay review bodies and are now carefully considering their recommendations before responding,’ they added.