NHS pay rise in Wales: RCN to ballot members on industrial action

A nursing union is to ballot members on possible industrial action after most NHS workers in Wales were offered a below-inflation pay rise.

Doctors, consultants, GPs and nurses in Wales are being offered between 4% and 5.5%, the Welsh government said.

Other NHS workers, including cleaners and porters, will get an average of 7.5%, it said. The pay rises are below the 9.4% rate of inflation.

The offer includes a real living wage pay rise announced in April.

"Nurses will be outraged to hear the pay award is well below inflation yet again," said Helen Whyley, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales.

Ms Whyley said RCN Wales would ballot members on whether to take industrial action, which she said was "something that the college has never done before".

She also warned the pay offer would "do nothing" to fill nursing vacancies in Wales or inspire young people to become nurses.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, said it was "shameful" the Welsh government did not revisit the 2021 multi-year contract agreed with some specialist doctors.

"It is nothing short of a kick in the teeth for hard-working doctors in Wales," said BMA Wales council chairman Dr David Bailey.

Other NHS workers, including nurses, cleaners and porters, will receive an extra £1,400

The health minister said this equated to an average pay rise of 7.5% for the lowest paid staff compared to the last financial year.

But for nurses, who are in higher pay bands, this would equate to a pay rise of between 4% and 5.5%.

"This pitiful and insulting pay announcement does not even come close to making up for the fall in the value of nursing pay, compared with a decade ago," Ms Whyley added.

But the health minister, Eluned Morgan, said the offer "goes some way" to recognising the "hard work" of NHS staff.

The very lowest paid will see an uplift of 10.8%, which the Welsh government claims is the most generous deal of any UK nation.

"We are all facing a cost of living crisis," Ms Morgan said. "We have structured this pay award so the lowest paid staff in the NHS would see the biggest uplift."

But Dr Bailey said the offer amounted to "nothing more than a pay cut" at a time when doctors had worked "above and beyond" during the pandemic and now faced under-staffing and under-funding.

Instead of a pay rise to their salary, some specialist doctors will receive a one-off payment of £1,400.

The union was also aggrieved the highest-paid doctors on older contracts will only receive a one-off payment equivalent to 4.5%, rather than a salary uplift.

Midwives and maternity support workers were awarded £1,400, which will mean a 4% pay increase for most.

Members will be "disappointed and angered", the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said, explaining the uplift will not be enough to "cope with the rising cost of living".

"We are disappointed they have not listened to our warnings of the consequences of a below inflation pay rise," said Vicky Richards from the RCM in Wales.

Earlier this week the UK government agreed with the pay recommendations for the NHS in England.

The UK government said it planned to fund pay rises in England from existing budgets, which means the Welsh government would not receive extra funding and will have to find the cash from elsewhere.

Ms Morgan said that without additional funding from the UK government, "there are inevitably limits to how far we can go in Wales".

In a previous response to the criticism, the UK government said the Welsh government has had more funding than at any time since devolution began.

Inflation currently stands at 9.4% in the UK and is predicted to reach 11% by the autumn.

The NHS in Wales employs nearly 90,000 people.

The offer comes after a below-inflation pay rise for Welsh teachers triggered complaints from trade unions.

Plaid Cymru said the below-inflation pay rise was a "bitter blow" for healthcare workers, particularly after "unprecedented" challenges in recent years.

Its health spokesman, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said the pay award was a "significant pay cut" in real terms.

He added: "In addition to ensuring that salaries catch-up with today's living costs, there also needed to be an uplift to make up for a decade and more of cuts.

"The Welsh government have failed to do that in recent years and now, as the cost-of-living soars, it is our front-line workers who are bearing the brunt. "

The Welsh Conservatives said the Welsh government should spend the money it receives from the UK government more wisely.

The party's finance spokesman, Peter Fox, said: "Whilst I welcome that NHS pay is being increased in line with the recommendations from the independent panel, the Labour government has been guaranteed an additional £2.5bn a year in their budgets.

"It's a shame that the Welsh government are choosing the wrong priorities such as wasting money on buying up farms, more politicians or stifling the Welsh economy with their road building freeze, instead of supporting our Welsh NHS."