Matt Hancock has refused to commit to a pay rise for nurses after the coronavirus crisis, saying only he would fight for them to have “fair reward”.
Speaking at the Downing Street press conference, the Health Secretary said he agreed “very strongly” with the statement that nursing is a “highly skilled profession and it deserves decent pay”.
But he stopped short of making any promises, saying only: “We put up nurses’ pay last month and in fact last year we had the biggest rise in pay, especially for nurses when they were starting their career, the lowest paid nurses got a pay rise, very significant, of over 15%.”
He added: “There has been a significant pay rise for nurses and I think one of the things that the crisis has shown is just how much the nation values our staff across the health and care system, including nurses.
“And when it comes to how we reward people for their efforts in this crisis what I can tell you is that as the Health Secretary I will be making sure that we fight to have that fair reward.”
READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: Keep your NHS claps and faux British patriotism. They are no use to us
“It is worth noting the increases that have been put through in the last couple of years and it is worth all of us coming together to show the value with which we hold nurses and everybody who works across health and social care.”
Mr Hancock’s remarks come on the day 16 healthcare unions, including Unison, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the Royal College of Midwives, and Unite published a nine-point “blueprint” for the NHS to return to normal service.
One of the key areas they are fighting for is for staff to be paid for every hour they have worked over the course of the pandemic.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock (Andrew Parsons/10 Downing Street/Crown Copyright)
Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN chief executive and general secretary, said on Friday: “In responding to this pandemic, the nation’s nursing staff have demonstrated their skill, professionalism and dedication.
“The Government should listen to the support shown by the public to our nursing staff, and show them the same respect when it comes to their pay.”
Unison head of health Sara Gorton, who also chairs the NHS group of unions, said: “The Government can show its appreciation for all NHS employees now by approving moves that guarantee staff are paid properly for every hour they’re at work.
“Every Thursday we applaud NHS staff from our doorsteps and show how much we value them. The public will expect the Government to reflect this when pay talks open later in the year.”
On Wednesday the Government was forced to deny reports that a Treasury document had been drawn up proposing measures such as income tax hikes and a two-year public sector pay freeze.
The Daily Telegraph reported the document estimated the UK’s deficit could reach £337 billion this year because of the pandemic, compared to the forecast £55 billion in March’s Budget.
In response to the report, Ms Gorton said: “People will understandably be horrified at talk of pay freezes for those at the forefront of the fight against the virus.”
READ MORE: Tom Gordon: The pretence of transparency is not what Scotland needs
RCN national officer and team leader Hannah Reed said: “Staff must be paid in full for the extra hours worked during the crisis.
“Any talk of future pay freezes to pay the bill for the pandemic will outrage nursing, health care staff and the public alike.”
On April 1 all NHS staff received a pay rise – the date marked the final year in a three-year deal negotiated by unions to increase the starting pay at every level – “band” – of the health service.
It was also intended to simplify the pay structure and aid recruitment and retention of staff.
Fresh rounds of pay talks are due to open later this year.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel