NHS workers in England to receive 3% pay rise, Sajid Javid announces

Nurses and other NHS workers in England have been offered a 3% pay rise by the Government.

This comes after the Department for Health and Social Care in March of this year said only a rise of 1% was affordable.

In Scotland, most NHS staff have already been offered a 4% pay rise, which was backdated to December 2020. This follows a one-off Covid payment of £500 for health and social care staff.

Earlier on today (Weds 21 July), there was anger among unions as the pay rise wasn’t announced in the House of Commons as expected.

Pat Cullen, interim general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said at the time that the treatment of NHS workers is “shameful”.

He said: “With tens of thousands of nursing vacancies and thousands more considering their future in the profession, the government is sending the worst possible signal with this political game playing.”

The 3% pay rise is for most NHS staff, including nurses, paramedics, consultants, dentists and salaried GPs. It is backdated to April 2021.

This will mean an additional £1,000 a year for the average nurse, according to government calculations. Many porters and cleaners will also receive around £540 extra.

However, the pay rise does not include doctors and dentists in training, who have their own separate contracts.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: "NHS staff are rightly receiving a pay rise this year despite the wider public sector pay pause, in recognition of their extraordinary efforts.

"We will back the NHS as we focus our efforts on getting through this pandemic and tackling the backlog of other health problems that has built up."

‘The profession will not take this lying down’

Unison general secretary, Christina McAnea, said the 3% pay rise fell short of what NHS staff deserved.

Ms McAnea said: "The government has failed to show staff just how valued they are to us all.

"There's a risk many may not stay around to see the NHS through the pandemic and the clearing of the Covid backlog."

Unite national officer for health, Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, said: "If the pay-review body is recommending a 3% pay rise, it is a small step forward on the insulting 1% the government offered in March.

"However, this recommendation in no way recognises the 19% drop in real earnings that many NHS workers have endured in the last decade, nor the immense sacrifices that health staff have and are continuing to make as Covid infection rates rapidly rise again."

Chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, also said the announcement was "light on detail."

He said: "Nursing staff will remain dignified in responding to what will be a bitter blow to many. But the profession will not take this lying down."