Government won’t say when nhs staff will get £500 bonus

THE Welsh Government has confirmed it is unable to tell NHS and social care staff in Wales when their £500 bonus payment will arrive in their pay packet.

On Wednesday, March 17 it was announced that all health and care workers will be given a one-off extra payment to recognise their “extraordinary contribution” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The cash boost is equivalent to £735 per person to cover the basic rate of tax and national insurance contributions incurred. After deductions, most people will receive £500.

It is estimated the payment will benefit 221,945 people in Wales including 103,600 social care staff, 90,000 NHS Wales staff, 2,345 deployed students and 26,000 primary care staff including workers in pharmacy, general practice, dentistry and optometry.

But yesterday a spokesperson for the Welsh Government said there is “no fixed date” for the payment and that it will be made “as soon as possible over the coming months”.

While the payment has been welcomed by health and care unions, they claim it cannot replace a substantive pay rise for NHS Wales staff which is long overdue.

The UK Government’s recommendation of a 1% increase for employees in England was met with widespread derision earlier this month.

Helen Whyley, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales, is calling for a 12.5% pay rise for nurses to reflect the growing complexity of their skills and workload.

She said: “This is not the significant and substantive pay rise we have been calling for. We need the Welsh Government to give a firm commitment to fair pay for nursing, addressing more than 1,600 vacancies in Wales, encouraging nurses to stay in the profession, and ensuring excellent patient care.

“Nurses deserve to be appropriately rewarded for their skills and expertise with pay that reflects the importance of their complex work. The next Welsh Government must get serious about valuing and supporting the profession in the short and long term.”

BMA Cymru Wales chairman Dr David Bailey said in March: “We welcome this gesture as an acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication demonstrated by doctors and other NHS workers in Wales who have been stretched to the very limits during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are pleased to see their tireless commitment has been recognised.”