Bristol hospitals could strike over "miserable" salary offer

Eugine Yafele is the new chief executive of University Hospitals & Weston NHS Trust (UHBW)

There is a "real risk" staff at Bristol hospitals will strike in the summer, the new chief executive of Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) has warned.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite are balloting hundreds of thousands of NHS workers to vote for industrial action in protest at a "miserable" salary offer.

The RCN said the proposed pay rise of 4% was far below inflation.

It said the pay deal would leave staff £1,000 per year worse off.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Eugine Yafele, chief executive of University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Trust (UHBW), which runs the BRI and the Children's Hospital and Weston General, told a board meeting the government had accepted the recommendations of the NHS pay review bodies but the increases were not fully funded.

Mr Yafele said: "We have between a 3-5% pay award proposed for non-medical staff and up to 9% for medics."

If trade unions reject the pay offer, there is a risk that industrial action could occur over the summer and into the autumn, he added.

UHBW runs the Bristol Royal Infirmary, the Children's Hospital and Weston General

Mr Yafele continued: "These awards offer most Agenda for Change colleagues a pay award of £1,400 or four per cent.

"Medics will receive pay rises of 4.5 per cent and very senior managers and executive up to 3.5 per cent.

"However, NHS England has only been allocated enough money in its budgets to cover a 3% investment in pay increases for staff."

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The RCN is organising a ballet, asking members in NHS England and Wales on Agenda for Change contracts to agree to an open walkout.

The Society of Radiographers has called the NHS pay offer a "serious miscalculation" and is planning to consult its members.