Covid-19: NI health and social care workers to get £500 payment

Health workers in Northern Ireland are to get a "special recognition" payment for their work during the pandemic.

It is intended that all staff will receive a payment of £500, said Health Minister Robin Swann.

However, it will be subject to approval from the Department of Finance.

There had been calls from some political parties and health unions for staff to be recognised for their efforts.

Scotland has already announced a similar one-off payment and Mr Swann said it would reflect the "principle of parity".

"There are no words to properly convey what health workers have done for us, we will never be able to repay that debt," added the minister.

The development comes as Northern Ireland's Department of Health has recorded 16 more coronavirus-related deaths, taking its toll so far to 1,779.

A further 527 people have tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours.

There are 775 people in Northern Ireland's hospitals who are being treated for the virus - 68 of them are in intensive care and the number of people requiring ventilators has risen to 56.

In the Republic of Ireland, 54 more Covid-19 related deaths were recorded on Wednesday. It brings the Republic of Ireland's death toll to 3,120.

The Irish Department of Health also confirmed 1,335 more Covid-19 cases.

Speaking at the weekly health news conference on Wednesday, Mr Swann said the pandemic had caused "destruction" and left "heartbreak in its wake".

"Staying at home is making a difference. The R-number has been moving in the right direction," he said.

"We have to sustain and build on that progress."

The reproductive rate of the virus - known as the R rate, measures the infection rate of Covid-19 and had risen to about 1.8 after Christmas relaxations.

It has been falling since lockdown restrictions were introduced on 26 December, and Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said NI's R-number for hospital admissions has now fallen back below one.

But he warned that the pressure on the system was still significant and would continue for several more weeks.

He added that there would need to be a "sustained" drop in the figures before relaxations of the lockdown could be considered by the executive.

It has also been confirmed that the number of people in Northern Ireland who have received their first Covid-19 now stands at 168,140.

More than 50,000 people aged over 80 have been vaccinated.

On the payment to health workers, Mr Swann said it would "not be without its challenges" but that he valued all staff in the health service.

"For some people, especially some of our lower paid workers, it may in fact have an adverse impact on their social security payments or supports that recipients may be claiming," he added.

"I have written to the ministers of finance and communities asking them to urgently consider the issue and to engage with the tax and benefit authorities in Great Britain to request that these payments are excluded from consideration in this regard."

There will also be a one-off payment of £2,000 for all non-salaried students on clinical placements in the health service.

Mr Swann added that he intends to provide a one-off payment for carers as well, describing them as "among the greatest unsung heroes" of the pandemic.

But he said: "There is still more work to be done in this regard and it will be significantly more complex to administer than the staff payment."

Kevin McAdam, who is from Unite the union, said the "recognition payments" will be allocated with assurances that this will not affect pay negotiations with healthcare workers.

Mr McAdam welcomed that health care workers and non-salaried students on placements will be "receiving something more tangible than applause".

"The student payment is a recognition payment, it does not solve the problems around whether student placements should be paid, I think that is an argument for another day."

Meanwhile, a senior Department of Finance official has warned there is "a higher than usual risk" of some £430m unspent by the NI Executive being returned to the Treasury.

Ministers must submit further funding bids, or risk it being handed back at the end of the financial year.

A department official, Jeff McGuinness, said the Treasury was being pressed to show flexibility in carrying unspent money over but added that it was "imperative" Stormont pressed ahead, rather then rely on agreement from Treasury.

He said the other devolved administrations were also asking the Treasury for similar levels of carry-forward of unspent fiscal allocations.