Unison votes to accept 5.5% NHS pay deal in Scotland

Members of the largest trade union in the NHS have voted to accept a 5.5% pay deal on offer from the Scottish government.

Unison said 89% of members who were balloted were in favour of the rise, which is in line with the deal offered to staff in England.

It would see almost 170,000 employees - including nurses, midwives, paramedics, porters and others - receive a pay rise backdated to April.

Members of the Unite union accepted the deal earlier this week. The Royal College of Nursing union is also due to vote on the offer.

Unison, which represents about 40,000 workers across NHS Scotland, said the offer was the "best deal currently possible".

But it warned ministers against complacency and said the Scottish government needed to be "far better at dealing with the annual pay round".

Unison Scotland lead organiser for health, Matt McLaughlin, said: "There's considerable anger that it's taken 200 days to get an offer on the table.

"Hard-working staff won't see a bump in their pay until at least the end of October."

Unison is the second major union to accept the deal, after Unite members voted in favour on Wednesday.

With a pay package worth £448m, Unite has said the rise would see the lowest-paid workers receive a £1,278 increase and a new hourly rate of £12.71.

Doctors are not included in the deal, because they negotiate their pay separately.

James O'Connell, Unite's lead negotiator for the health sector, said it would provide a "significant boost to take-home pay".

Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray previously said the deal would ensure "Scotland's nurses and NHS staff have the best pay package in the UK".

NHS waiting lists in Scotland had reached a record high at the end of March, with 690,000 waits for planned outpatient or inpatient care.

Scotland is the only nation in the UK to have avoided NHS strike action.