NHS staff are to receive a pay rise of one per cent, the Government has confirmed – however this amounts to a pay cut in real terms, as inflation is at 2.3 per cent.
The rise, which unions have called “derisory”, will apply from 1 April for all health workers including doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives as well as porters and cleaning staff.
A report on NHS pay delivered to Parliament today said the change was being made in the context of “significant affordability pressures facing the NHS across the UK”.
“Increasing demand for healthcare [is] being accommodated within budgets that are broadly flat in real terms,” it said.
Midwives have seen their pay drop in value by over £6,000 since 2010 due to below-inflation increases, according to the Royal College of Midwives, who said low pay was contributing to a midwife shortage.
And the Royal College of Nurses, calling the decision a “bitter blow” to nursing staff, said it would also deter people from becoming nurses at a time when record numbers were quitting, especially nurses from the EU.