Ministers accused of divisive tactics over nurses' pay deals

Health ministers were last night accused of seeking a divisive pay deal for nurses after telling their pay review body to leave the level of local pay rises to NHS trusts. Phil Gray, chief negotiator for the Royal College of Nursing, will today tell the review body nurses expect an across-the- board increase of at least 8 per cent without locally determined pay.

The pay review threatens to revive unrest among nurses, who threatened disruptive action for the first time earlier this year after they were offered a national rise of 1 per cent plus up to 2 per cent negotiated locally.