NHS pay: delay to nurses’ next annual deal looks likely
Posted 21 December 2023 - 14:43
Health and social care secretary tells NHS pay review body to think of ‘affordability’ as unions accuse her of trying to interfere in process’s independence
Nurses in the NHS face months of delay to their annual pay offer – again – after the government triggered the process ‘extremely late’.
Health and social care secretary Victoria Aitkin wrote to the NHS Pay Review Body (RB) urging it to bear in mind ‘affordability’ and what she called the historic nature of the 2023 and 2024 awards. She asked it to report back with its recommendations for staff on Agenda for Change (AfC) in May 2024.
Unions accused the government of ignoring lessons from last year’s AfC pay process and said delay in starting next year’s review showed they had failed to plan. In the past two years, the secretary of state sent the equivalent letter in November, and before the pandemic, triggered the AfC pay process in autumn in readiness for settlement by the following April.
Unions say ministers are interfering in pay review body’s decision-making
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: ‘This letter is extremely late and it confirms the next pay award will be late too. There is no evidence the government has honoured its commitment to improve how the process works despite a consultation earlier this year.
‘Nursing staff received the lowest pay award in the public sector for 2023-24 – we end the year in formal dispute with ministers and campaigning for a pay rise that addresses the staffing crisis in the NHS.’
The RCN, Unison and the GMB, which represents ambulance workers, have expressed doubt about the ability of the RB to be independent and have called for direct negotiations with trade unions, to resolve pay without industrial action.
Ms Cullen added: ‘Once again, the supposedly independent process has its wings clipped when the health secretary writes about keeping costs down.’
‘We want proper pay talks in the new year’
Unison’s acting head of health Helga Pile said: ‘The government is in danger of ignoring the lessons from last winter’s NHS dispute. There simply isn’t time to allow the long-winded pay review body process to run its course, especially when everyone knows ministers are calling the shots.
‘Victoria Atkins must do the right thing for NHS staff and patients by holding proper pay talks early in the new year. Otherwise, there’s a risk of a repeat of the disruption that affected so much of the NHS last winter.’
Ms Atkins wrote in her letter to interim-chair Stephen Boyle: ‘As part of the deal negotiated with Agenda for Change unions, the government is committed to ensuring the pay setting process and the RB operates effectively.
‘Work on this commitment is already under way via a series of engagement sub-groups with trade unions, employers and others.’
Health unions have been asked to give feedback on the RB as part of the non-pay elements of the 2023-24 pay deal agreed by the NHS Staff Council. Among these elements was a review of the RB process, which unions have called unfit for purpose.
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