NHS staff are to ask English MPs to help kickstart promised, but recently postponed, pay talks to boost the morale of health workers battling at the heart of the winter health crisis, says UNISON today (Tuesday).
Healthcare workers are being encouraged to write to their local MPs asking them to call on health and social care secretary Wes Streeting to open immediate talks between unions and NHS employers.
The purpose of these negotiations, says UNISON, would be to try and solve the many problems with the Agenda for Change salary scales (the pay bands for most NHS jobs), which have been behind a number of local disputes recently.
In July, when the incoming government accepted the NHS pay review body recommendation of a 5.5% wage rise for 2024/25, the announcement also included a commitment to talks to modernise Agenda for Change and, more importantly, funding to make this possible.
However, in December ministers dashed health workers’ hopes by saying any NHS pay rise would be limited to 2.8% for 2025/26, says UNISON. In addition, the cost of any salary structure reform would have to come from this pot meaning some staff would end up with very little, warned the union.
Worse still, the government handed responsibility for looking at ways to improve Agenda for Change to the pay review body, thereby ensuring the whole process would be delayed until at least May, says UNISON.
The union says ministers must honour a commitment to reopen pay negotiations if they are serious about delivering for NHS staff and patients. The union says the health and social care secretary cannot afford to wait for the lengthy NHS pay review process to run its course before awarding next year’s increases.
In letters to their MPs, staff will say sorting pay out in a timely fashion is vital if the government wants to improve staff morale, retain expertise and start tackling waiting lists.
Health workers will remind MPs of the key role they will play in government plans to get the NHS back onto its feet – a key performance indicator on which the administration will be judged.
In November, UNISON, the Royal College of Nursing and Unite wrote to Wes Streeting urging him to bypass the NHS pay review body and hold direct pay talks with the unions over salary structure reform and the coming annual wage rise.
UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: “In the summer, ministers promised to open negotiations with unions and sort out the NHS pay structure. That hasn’t happened and frustrated NHS staff who’d pinned their hopes on talks are now asking their local MP to give the health secretary a nudge.
“The pay review body process is from a bygone era and should be axed. A modern NHS needs 21st century pay practices to keep and recruit the staff required to deal with the multiple crises it currently faces.
“The health and care secretary says he wants to improve patient care, make the NHS more efficient and turn around its fortunes.
“NHS staff know that the best way to do that is to save time and money by dealing directly with the unions on pay. It will take a huge effort to get the struggling NHS back on its feet and MPs know that staff are key to achieving that.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s biggest union and the largest in the NHS and ambulance sector. It has more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Dan Ashley M: 07789 518992 E: d.ashley@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
The article NHS staff urge local MPs to kickstart talks as government stalls on pay promises, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.