Tag: pay offer

Junior doctors: Pay deal agreed?

Industrial action suspended as improved offer to be put to union members

A record 12.4% pay increase for junior doctors and doctors in training for 2023/24 has been agreed with the British Medical Association.

Following discussions with Health Secretary Michael Matheson this afternoon, BMA Scotland have agreed to suspend strike action while they consult their members on this deal. 

Coupled with the pay raise of 4.5% awarded in 2022/23, this amounts to a cumulative increase of 17.5% over two years.

The deal also includes a commitment to future years pay, contract and pay bargaining modernisation.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “Following months of negotiations with BMA Scotland, I am delighted that we have agreed a pay deal for 2023/24 for our Junior Doctors.  BMA have agreed to suspend strike action in Scotland while they consult with their members.

“I hope this investment and the significant commitments we have given around pay and contract reform will show Junior Doctors how much we value them, and that we are determined to ensure that Scotland is the place for Junior Doctors to work and train.

“Some patients may have been contacted to say their treatment has been cancelled. We are working hard with health boards to make sure appointments that can go ahead do, and that any others are rescheduled as soon as possible.”

Next week’s planned Scottish junior doctor industrial action has been suspended after the latest period of intense negotiations ended with BMA Scotland agreeing to put an improved offer from the Scottish Government to its members.

This year, Junior Doctors will receive a pay rise of 12.4%. For the following three financial years, Junior Doctors will receive a guaranteed minimum pay uplift of inflation every year. Over this three-year period, the Scottish Government has committed to negotiate further annual pay rises on top of inflation that must, “make credible progress on the path towards pay restoration”.

In addition, BMA Scotland will enter contract negotiations with the Scottish Government from Autumn 2023 with the aim of improving the working and training conditions of Junior Doctors in Scotland by April 2026.

As part of these negotiations, they will agree a new Pay Review mechanism, the aim of which is to reach a “mutually agreeable path to achieve pay restoration and prevent erosion recurring in the future”.

This mechanism once established should complete the process of restoring Junior Doctor pay and ensure it is protected against any recurrence of pay erosion in the long term.

On this basis, the BMA’s Scottish Junior Doctor Committee (SJDC) yesterday agreed unanimously that it would recommend members accept the offer in a consultative vote in the coming weeks.

Speaking after a full meeting of the committee, where the decision to put the offer to members was made, Dr Chris Smith, chair of SJDC, said: “This has been an intense period of negotiation with the Scottish Government.

“At this stage, our negotiating team feel they have reached the limit of what can be achieved this year and do not think strike action would result in a materially improved offer. As a result, we have agreed to suspend next week’s strikes and put this offer to our members.

“This offer commits the government to working with doctors to restore our pay and prevent pay erosion from occurring in the future.

“This is an unprecedented shift from the Scottish Government, which is a recognition of the huge decline in real terms pay that doctors have experienced over the past fifteen years, and the huge amount of work needed to undo the damage this has caused to the NHS. 

“By agreeing to address the way our pay has been cut, and setting out a clear mechanism for doing so, the Government is making a serious, welcome commitment to ensuring that pay for Junior Doctors in Scotland is restored to a fair level.

“The agreement is clear that the increases above inflation over the next three years must be substantial enough in real terms to make credible progress on the path towards pay restoration.

“We will now deliver wide ranging and comprehensive details of the offer to members over the coming days and will open a fresh consultative vote as soon as we can.

“While we have suspended next week’s strikes, our mandate to strike still has months to run, so all options will remain open. Indeed, regardless of the outcome of the consultative vote, the collective power junior doctors have demonstrated by consistently and powerfully speaking up on behalf of the profession should ensure that we are never again taken for granted as we have been for the last 15 years.”

The Scottish Government says the pay deal represents a £61.3 million investment in Junior Doctor pay – the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK – and means a doctor at the beginning of their career would receive a salary increase of £3,429 in 2023/24. For those at the end of their training the rise would be £7,111 over the same period. 

Record pay offer for NHS staff – but it’s not enough, say nurses

All NHS workers offered £2,205 pay rise but nurses to go ahead with strike ballot

NHS staff in Scotland are set to receive a record pay rise of £2,205 – an average 7% pay uplift – to help tackle the cost of living crisis and retain staff during the tougher winter months. 

This increased offer was made after constructive negotiations between the Scottish Government and NHS Unions, which lasted into the early hours of Friday morning (21 October).

The offer would mean the lowest paid seeing a rise of more than 11%, with qualified nursing staff receiving up to 8.45%, helping the lowest paid staff through the cost of living crisis. 

If agreed, the pay uplift, which amounts to almost half a billion pounds (£480m), will benefit more than 160,000 employees including nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals and healthcare support staff.  

This is the largest pay offer given to NHS Scotland Agenda for Change staff since devolution and will mean they remain the best paid in the UK. If accepted, the offer will be backdated to 1 April 2022, and could be added to pay cheques in time for Christmas.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “I am grateful to trade union colleagues and NHS employers for constructive discussions on pay.

“This has been another exceptionally challenging year for our health service and we have a difficult winter ahead, but I am pleased that we are able to recognise the service and dedication of our healthcare and support staff with this pay offer.

“We owe NHS staff a debt of gratitude for leading us through the greatest public health crisis in recent history.

“This improved pay offer – which is the largest of its kind since devolution – reflects their hard work and will go a long way to help them through the cost of living crisis. We are rightly focussing the biggest increases for those who are the lowest paid, as we know the cost crisis is impacting them disproportionately.”

However the Scottish government’s latest pay offer remains a real terms pay cut for the majority of nursing staff, according to the Royal College of Nursing.

The offer comes after discussions with the health trade unions, Cabinet Secretary, Deputy First Minister, Scottish government officials and employers.

Scottish government failed to take the opportunity to recognise the clinical skill, expertise and leadership of registered nurses.

When compared to the previous offer from May 2022, this offer sees a lower percentage increase for those higher up the Agenda for Change bandings. The RCN has called for an across the board pay increase that is 5% above inflation.

Julie Lamberth said: “Nurse staffing levels are dangerously low. We need fair pay to attract more people into nursing and to keep the skilled nurses we already have. 

“We want to be able to provide the best possible care for our patients but too often, the lack of staff and demand on services is standing in our way. Too many of us are making the decision to walk away from the profession. The Scottish Government has the power to stop this. The people of Scotland deserve better, so do we. Please post you ballot back today.”

RCN Scotland Director Colin Poolman said: “Yet again the Scottish Government has failed to listen to our members concerns for the safety of their patients. They have failed to recognise the safety critical role of nursing staff and their essential contribution to our NHS and our nation’s health.

“Under this proposal, registered nurses continue to face a significant real terms pay cut. This is even more stark with the news that inflation reached a 40 year high. Many are making difficult decisions about how to heat their homes, feed their families and travel to work while carrying the burden of being unable to do the best for their patients due to severe staff shortages.

“Our ballot for strike action continues. Today’s offer will make our members more determined to have their voice heard. I would urge members to vote in favour of strike and to post back their ballot papers now.”

GMB tells Scottish Government to go further on NHS pay as rejection recommended

GMB workplace representatives in NHS Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service will recommend its members vote to reject the Scottish Government’s pay offer when a consultative ballot is launched next month.

The recommendation to reject comes ahead of a public demonstration by NHS nurses and staff later today at George Square, Glasgow, against the Scottish Government’s pay offer for 2021-22.

GMB Scotland will launch a consultative ballot of its entire NHS Scotland and Scottish Ambulance Service membership from Monday 12 April, which will run until 12.00 hours on Wednesday 5 May.

GMB Scotland Organiser Karen Leonard said: “The offer doesn’t value our members properly, it doesn’t restore the pay they’ve lost after a decade of cuts, and it doesn’t secure their future. That’s why are recommending its rejection.

“We see this pay offer for what it is: a pre-election punt by an outgoing Health Secretary that looks better than it really is when put up against the insulting 1 per cent increase for our NHS colleagues in England.

“It’s been a wretched year for our NHS workers and the COVID-19 pandemic has not only pushed them beyond their limits, but it’s also exposed the many underlying problems in our NHS because of its managed political decline over the last ten years.

“After all the applause, we strongly believe the Scottish Government can and should go further on our members’ pay, and it’s the least Ministers can do after everything our NHS staff have done for all of us.”

Nurses will earn £2,500 less in real terms than in 2010

  • New 1% NHS pay offer is “a real terms pay cut” and “hammer blow to morale”, says union body
  • All key workers deserve a decent pay rise, says TUC

The TUC has released new analysis which shows how major groups of NHS workers will be much worse off in real terms in 2021-22 than in 2010.

The analysis shows that following the government’s decision to offer NHS staff a pay rise of just 1% in 2021-22, nurses’ pay will be down as much as £2,500 in real terms compared to a decade ago.

The picture is bleak for many other NHS staff too:

  • Porters’ pay will be down by up to £850
  • Maternity care assistants’ pay will be down by up to £2,100
  • Paramedics’ pay will be down by up to £3,330

Real terms pay loss since 2010

OccupationPay 2010Pay 2010 in 20-21 prices  (CPI)Agenda for change 2020-21 payPay 2021-22 (1% proposed increase)Real terms pay loss 2010-2021
Porters£16,753£20,383£19,337£19,530-£852
Medical secretaries£18,577£22,602£21,142£21,353-£1,249
Nursery Nurse£21,798£26,521£24,157£24,399-£2,122
Maternity Care Assistants
Speech and Language Therapy Assistants
Team coordinators
Nurses£27,534£33,500£30,615£30,921-£2,579
Community nurses
Radiographer Specialist £34,189£41,597£37,890£38,269-£3,328
Paramedic

Source: TUC analysis of NHS Agenda for Change Pay scales

The TUC analysis also reveals that NHS workers across many occupations and pay bands will suffer a real-terms pay cut in 2021-22.

For example, an experienced nurse or midwife (NHS band 5) will a face an annual real-terms pay cut of up to £153 in 2021-22 as a result of the planned 1% increase.

Unions have described the latest pay offer to NHS workers as an insult to their hard work and dedication during the pandemic.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Our brilliant NHS workers have put their lives on their line to get Britain through this pandemic.

“It’s time we cared for them the way they have cared for us.

“That means giving them the decent pay rise they deserve – not a pathetic 1% increase. After years of real-terms pay cuts the government’s latest offer is a hammer blow to staff morale.

“This boils down to political choices. Ministers have chosen to spend hundreds of millions on outsourcing our failed test and trace system and on dodgy PPE contracts. But they have chosen not to find the money to give nurses, paramedics and other NHS workers fair pay.

“Boosting pay for NHS key workers will help our local businesses and high streets recover faster – because their customers will have more cash to spend. And that will help other workers get a pay rise too.”

BACKLASH

Four major unions – the BMA, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives and UNISON – have written an open letter to the Chancellor, expressing their dismay at the 1% pay offer made to health workers.

In the letter they ask him to reconsider the recommendation, made to the NHS pay review bodies yesterday, that NHS staff receive a 1% pay rise.

The letter goes on to say: “The proposal of a 1% pay offer, not announced from the despatch box but smuggled out quietly in the days afterwards, fails the test of both honesty and fails to provide staff who have been on the very frontline of the pandemic the fair pay deal they need.

“Our members are the doctors, nurses, midwives, porters, healthcare assistants and more, already exhausted and distressed,  who are also expected to go on caring for the millions of patients on waiting lists, coping with a huge backlog of treatment as well as caring for those with COVID-19.”

The unions make clear that the Government should demonstrate that it recognises the contribution of the hundreds of thousands of workers who have literally kept the country alive for the past year and call upon the Chancellor to, “make the right choice”.

Read the full letter