STRIKES which could have incapacitated Scotland's already beleaguered health service have been called off after members of Unison and Unite voted to accept a 7.5 per cent pay increase.

The willingness to accept the Scottish Government's "best and final offer" means that more than 50,000 NHS staff and workers with the Scottish Ambulance Staff will now not take industrial action.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said he was "delighted" by the result.

However, both the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Physiotherapists all still currently consulting their members on the offer.

As well as an additional £515m in 2022-23, the deal put forward by the Scottish Government included a "package of progressive measures to promote staff and patient safety, support long-term workforce sustainability and to recognise the breadth of skills and experience of NHS Scotland staff."

This will include a review into reducing the working week to 36 hours.

 

The package followed negotiations with Mr Yousaf and the direct intervention of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The new deal means NHS workers in Scotland will get pay rises ranging from £2,205 to £2,751.

For the lowest paid it would be a rise of 11.3%, with an average rise of 7.5%.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said the offer was as a result of “the resolve of our members”, adding: “They were prepared to take the difficult step in taking industrial action but only because they had no other option left.

“Unite makes no apologies for fighting for better jobs, pay and conditions in the health service because NHS Scotland workers should be fairly rewarded for the outstanding work that they do day in and day out.”

Unison’s health committee chair Wilma Brown said her union’s vote was “not a win for the Government – it is a warning”.

“It was far from a unanimous decision and many of the NHS professional grades feel badly let down,” she said.

“Almost half of Unison NHS staff voted to reject this latest pay offer, and many who did vote to accept, did so reluctantly.

“There is a staffing crisis in the NHS. The health service is consistently understaffed and under-resourced and every day staff are expected to deliver more with less.

“We have the highest job vacancy rates, the longest waiting lists and longest waiting times since records began.

“The Cabinet Secretary has secured himself a pause in our members’ anger. He now needs to use the next pay round to resolve the under staffing, low staff morale, and pay.”

Mr Yousaf contrasted the situation in Scotland with England where the current pay offer is 4.75%, and ministers are refusing to enter the pay negotiations.

The SNP minister also criticised Labour after the UK party's Shadow Secretary of State for Health criticised the BMA doctor's union of being "hostile" to reform. 

He said a vote last month by GPs in England to cut surgeries’ core opening hours to 9am to 5pm made doctors “look like they’re living on a different planet and, worst of all, aren’t really thinking about the best interests of patients.”

Mr Yousaf tweeted: "I am delighted that Unite & Unison members have agreed to accept our record pay offer for NHS staff. I am grateful for the positive engagement that has taken place with our trade union colleagues, which has so far averted strike action in our NHS in Scotland.

"Number of ballots ongoing, I hope we will see more Unions accepting our record pay offer of 7.5% In a week where Labour & Tories have been lining up to attack health trade unions, I'm proud to be part of a Govt that works constructively with them for the benefit of our NHS."