NHS workers accept three-year pay deal

More than one million health workers are to receive a pay rise worth 6.5% for most staff over the next three years, after the deal was accepted by those ranging from nurses to cleaners.

Members of 13 unions representing hospital cleaners, nurses, security guards, physiotherapists, emergency call handlers, paramedics, midwives, radiographers and other NHS staff across England voted to accept the deal.

The GMB is the only union involved in the NHS which has rejected the offer.

Unison's head of health Sara Gorton said: "The agreement won't solve all the NHS's problems overnight, but it will go a long way towards easing the financial strain suffered by health staff and their families over many years.

"The lifting of the damaging 1% cap on pay will come as a huge relief for all the employers who've struggled for so long to attract new recruits and hold on to experienced staff.

"But this three-year pay deal must not be a one-off.

"Health workers will want to know that ministers are committed to decent wage rises across the NHS for the long term, and that this isn't just a quick fix.

"Most importantly, the extra funding means the pay rise won't be at the expense of services or patient care.

"Now the Government has begun to put right the damage inflicted by its mean-spirited pay policies, staff will be hoping ministers announce an injection of cash for NHS services in time for its 70th birthday next month."