We’ll match deal on NHS rises for staff, say Scots ministers
SCOTLAND’S nurses are set to receive a significant pay increase after ministers vowed to match a rise promised to NHS workers in England.
A deal struck south of the Border will see NHS staff given increases of at least 6.5 per cent over three years.
The pay rises are being funded by an extra £4.2billion allocated to the NHS in the recent Budget following a campaign by health unions.
Yesterday, Health Secretary Shona Robison said she hoped to ensure nurses, paramedics and porters across NHS Scotland receive a similar deal.
Both the Scottish and UK governments recently lifted a 1 per cent pay cap for public sector workers.
The deal agreed between the Department of Health and union leaders in England will be tiered, with the lowest-paid in each job receiving the biggest rise and some getting as much as 29 per cent.
Ministers hope it will boost morale and address the huge problem of staff shortages and retention.
Figures last month showed one in ten nursing posts in England was vacant, equivalent to 35,800 nurses.
Miss Robison said Barnett consequentials resulting from the additional UK Government funding would be used to ensure Scottish nurses earn ‘at least as much’ as their English counterparts.
‘Following this announcement we’re now working with NHS Scotland staff representatives and health boards to quickly take forward pay discussions,’ she said.
‘We have been clear that we will ensure nurses, support staff, AHPs [allied health professions] and all other staff groups covered by this agreement will be paid at least as much as their counterparts in other parts of the UK.
‘We’ll be working to reach a Scottish agreement as soon as possible and pay uplifts will be paid at the earliest opportunity. This will include staff receiving retrospective payments to reflect the value of the uplift backdated to April 1, 2018.
‘The Chancellor [Philip Hammond] has previously committed to providing additional investment
‘Take forward pay discussions’
to fully fund an English settlement.
‘It is my intention to use any Barnett consequentials that come here as a result of this pay deal to invest in a Scottish pay agreement.’
The Royal College of Nursing welcomed the English deal but warned that failure to match it in Scotland would lead to dire consequences.
Scottish director Theresa Fyffe said: ‘We have campaigned hard for fair pay for nursing staff and we strongly believe that maintaining pay, terms and conditions across the UK is best for the future of our National Health Service.
‘Failure to do this will have a significant impact on recruitment and retention in NHS Scotland.’
Matt McLaughlin, head of health for Unison Scotland, said: ‘NHS workers in Scotland will now be looking to the Scottish Government with an expectation that hard working, loyal Unison members in Scotland are no worse off than their colleagues in England or other devolved nations.’
The deal in England has led to demands for a pay rise from doctors, who claim they should also be ‘acknowledged’ by the Government. A senior GP typically earns £103,000 a year, while the average salaries of consultants range from £75,000 to £100,000 a year depending on their experience.
But the British Medical Association said doctors’ real pay had fallen by 20 per cent in the past decade due to rises in inflation and cost of living.
Mr Hammond’s decision, however, will rule out pay boosts for soldiers and UK Government civil servants based in Scotland.
As defence is a reserved issue, forces personnel are funded at a UK level and the Treasury’s decision will not to give them additional money.
Civil servants based in Scotland who work for the UK Government – including in the Scotland Office, HM Revenue and Customs and international development – will also miss out.