NHS and ambulance staff in Scotland accept latest pay offer

The union representing NHS and ambulance staff in Scotland have accepted the latest pay offer from the Scottish government.

GMB Scotland said 59.7% of balloted members had accepted the new offer.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has been locked in negotiations with health unions in recent months amid the threat of industrial action.

Strikes were suspended earlier this year while members of three unions considered the improved deal.

Both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) are also balloting their members, with the recommendation to accept the deal.

The result of the RCN vote is expected next week.

The pay offer made to 160,000 NHS staff, including nurses, midwives and paramedics, equates to an average 6.5% increase in 2023/24.

It also includes the commitment to modernising Agenda for Change, which is nearly 20 years old, to support workforce recruitment, sustainability and retention.

The offer is on top of the imposed pay rise already allocated for 2022/23, meaning many staff could receive a consolidated 13 to 14% pay increase over a two-year period.

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, welcomed the acceptance but urged ministers to heed the warnings of the proportion of the union membership that voted to reject the pay offer.

He said: "We would warn that no-one in government circles should be naïve enough to think this puts the issue of worker value back in the box.

"The sizeable minority of members who voted to reject the offer illustrate the point and this sends a loud and clear message on future pay offers.

"If ministers want to seriously tackle the understaffing crisis in our health service and recruit and retain the people needed to build a recovery of our broken NHS, then the bar must continue to rise for the pay and conditions of staff in the years to come."

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said he was "delighted" that GMB members had accepted the pay offer.

He said: "This will ensure that Scotland's NHS Agenda for Change staff are, by far and away, the best paid anywhere in the UK. We are also committed to delivering the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in decades.

"We await the outcome of the remaining union ballots."