NHS staff in Scotland advised to reject 4% pay offer as unions push for 12.5%

Boosting pay by three times the level offered would improve staffing levels and reverse austerity says nursing leaders

Nurses in Scotland could receive at least a 4 per cent pay rise (PA)

NHS staff in Scotland have been urged to reject a proposed pay rise of at least 4 per cent as unions push for a rise more than three times larger.

The Royal College of Nursing has advised its Scottish members to reject the government’s pay offer. It believes nurses and healthcare assistants deserve a 12.5 per cent pay rise.

The GMB union has also called on its members to reject the proposals in a ballot of workers.

A 4 per cent offer would be more than twice the level of inflation during 2021-22 and is more generous than what the Westminster government has offered staff in England.

In its proposals, the Department of Health and Social Care has suggested only a 1 per cent rise for NHS staff in England, despite previous plans for a 2.1 per cent rise before the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime minister Boris Johnson has said this all the government can afford after spending more than £407 billion in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Read more:

• What am I allowed to do over the Easter weekend?
• Lockdown roadmap dates: What is reopening and when?
• Pfizer vaccine produces ‘off the scale’ immune response, study finds
• Vaccine passports could ‘scupper’ pub reopening plans, say industry chiefs

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said NHS staff on pay bands 1 to 7 would receive at least a 4 per cent boost to pay, with workers earning less than £25,000 guaranteed a minimum increase of more than £1,000 in 2021-22.

The RCN says 12.5 per cent is needed to reward staff for their efforts, to encourage new people to join the workforcem, and help make up for austerity over many years.

Julie Lamberth, chairwoman of the RCN Scotland board, said: "Our members are exhausted. This past year has exacerbated long-standing issues and taken its toll; we know many are thinking of leaving the profession.

"Governments across the UK need to demonstrate that nursing staff are valued. That's why we are campaigning for 12.5 per cent.”

She added: "We believe the nursing profession deserves fair pay that recognises our contribution, supports retention and recruitment to ensure patient safety, and compensates for the failure of salaries to keep up with the cost of living over the last 10 years.

"We are recommending our members reject this offer."

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."

She added: "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."

Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced details of the pay deal to 154,000 NHS workers shortly before MSPs went into recess ahead of the forthcoming Holyrood elections.

The offer from the Scottish government, which has been backdated to December 2020, applies to staff including nurses, midwives, paramedics and porters.

It comes on top of the £500 "thank-you payment" to health and care workers in recognition of their efforts during the pandemic.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously described the pay offer as a "fair deal for our NHS staff".

Speaking last week, Ms Sturgeon said: "This pandemic has shown us that every member of NHS staff is vital to the delivery of the service - we value our porters and cleaners just as we value our nurses and doctors.

"That's why we believe all Agenda for Change staff should get a fair pay rise to recognise the enormous contribution they have made to keeping us safe in the last year.

"The Tories' miserly 1 per cent pay offer south of the border shows that they have the wrong priorities."