NHS workers to be given 6.5 per cent pay rise

NHS workers will finally get a pay rise, ending a seven year wage cap

More than one million NHS staff, including nurses, porters and paramedics, are being offered increases between 6.5 per cent and 29 per cent over the next three years.

The deal was formally agreed by ministers and union leaders on Wednesday and will cost £4.2 billion. If staff accept the deal by summer they will receive rises backdated to April, ending the NHS pay cap a year early. The NHS has struggled to retain staff, particularly since the Brexit vote. Between July and September 2017, over 34,000 nursing vacancies were posted in England. In 2016, only 12 per cent of new nurses joining the NHS were from the EU. The year before this figure was 19 per cent. Furthermore, in 2016, 11 per cent of the nurses leaving the NHS were from the EU. The Royal College of Nursing claims average nurse pay has fallen by more than 14 per cent in real terms since 2010. Sara Gorton, lead negotiator for the health unions, said: "It won't solve every problem in the NHS but it will go a long way towards making dedicated health staff feel more valued, lift flagging morale and help turn the tide on staffing problems." Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said "compromises" have had to be made but he predicts the deal will make the NHS a "desirable" employer once again.