NHS staff 6.5% pay rise deal backed by healthcare unions

Employees urged to accept three-year deal despite warnings it will mean a drop in real incomes

Leaders representing 1.3 million NHS staff have endorsed a deal that will deliver a 6.5% pay rise over three years, despite concerns it will mean a further fall in real incomes.

Fourteen unions backed the government’s offer, which they praised for ending the pay freezes and 1% pay cap policies that the coalition government introduced in 2010 as part of its controversial austerity programme.

Related: Ministers drop demand that NHS staff give up day’s leave for pay rise

The UK has fewer doctors and nurses than many other comparable countries both in Europe and worldwide. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Britain comes 24th in a league table of 34 member countries in terms of the number of doctors per capita. Greece, Austria and Norway have the most; the three countries with the fewest are Turkey, Chile and Mexico. Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, regularly points out that the NHS in England has more doctors and nurses than when the Conservatives came to power in 2010. That is true, although there are now fewer district nurses, mental health nurses and other types of health professionals.

Related: The NHS pay deal is just another cut, and an insult to overworked staff | Owen Jones

Continue reading... March 21, 2018 at 05:30PM