Welsh Election: NHS pay - what the parties are offering

Whoever wins the Senedd election will decide what NHS staff are paid

NHS workers in Wales have urged politicians to pledge above-inflation pay rises ahead of the Senedd election.

The British Medical Association said pay rises should reflect a "horrible year", while Unison wants all staff to receive an immediate £2,000 pay rise.

A call for a "significant and simple deal" has been made by Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

The next Welsh government must decide if recommendations of an independent pay review under way will be accepted.

RCN Cymru director Helen Whyley, said: "We believe nursing pay has fallen behind inflation for a number of years and this is the year to get it right. To close the gap.

"There should be a significant, simple deal brought forward and paid quickly so that our members get money in their pay packets that they so deserve given how they have stepped up in the coronavirus [pandemic] and the things they have had to do in the last twelve months or so.

"If we really want to get the NHS back on its feet we need to reward the skills and competencies that nurses have shown. So, whatever the parties might say in their manifestos, they cannot afford not to do this."

All NHS staff have been offered a 'thank you' payment worth £500 for working during the pandemic

While the four major political parties have all said they will respect the outcome of the review, expected to report this summer, only Plaid Cymru has specified a minimum increase - 4% - it would commit to implementing if it forms the next government.

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The bodies representing NHS staff were angered when the UK government, which sets pay levels in England, said it wanted to limit pay rises to 1%. It made the claim in its evidence to the pay review body.

In its own evidence, the then-Labour Welsh Government did not set a cap on what it would be prepared to pay.

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What the parties say?

For the past year NHS staff have been on the front-line of Wales's response to the pandemic, putting themselves at risk to treat sick patients and to provide care for the dying.

BBC Wales asked the political parties what was the minimum percentage increase in pay they would implement if they were in government.

Welsh Labour said it had funded a bonus payment to more than 220,000 NHS and social care staff, on top of an earlier £500 payment for social care staff, in recognition of their "huge contribution" every day and particularly during the pandemic.

"We will move our NHS and care system forward by putting in place the biggest recovery plan the Welsh NHS has ever seen, giving care workers the guarantee of the living wage, training 12,000 health professionals and establishing a new medical school in north Wales," said a spokesperson.

"We understand the anger of staff across the NHS at the paltry 1% pay rise offered by the UK Tory government. Unlike the Tories in England, we haven't set an arbitrary cap on pay.

"The Welsh Labour government didn't include a cap on wage increases in its evidence to the pay review bodies and we wait to see their recommendations."

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The Welsh Conservatives said they would deliver the pay review board's full recommendation with "no ifs, no buts".

Leader Andrew RT Davies added: "I believe we should be rewarding our dedicated Welsh NHS workers and carers to the full value that we possibly can as a country."

Plaid Cymru has pledged to match the 4% rise offered staff in Scotland as a guaranteed minimum.

"We will also seek to agree with unions and NHS employers a clear plan that will deliver the 12.5% real terms increase necessary to undo a decade of cuts in the shortest timescale possible," said a spokesperson.

Welsh Liberal Democrats will also await the recommendations of the independent report, but said they were committed to ensuring NHS staff "receive the pay and recognition they deserve", gaining parity across the NHS and social care workforce.

UKIP Wales did not respond to the question and have made no firm commitments on the issue of NHS pay during the election campaign.

Reform UK also did not respond to the question but, in its wider health policy, has pledged to invest £1bn over four years to clear the NHS backlog caused by Covid.

Dr David Bailey said there was more cross-party co-operation in Wales compared to England

BMA Cymru wants to see an above-inflation rise close to 5% for all NHS staff and said it was reassured that Welsh political parties had not set a cap on pay rises similar to the UK government.

"We would like to see something close to 5 per cent to reflect just what an almighty, horrible year it has been, not just for doctors," said its chairman Dr David Bailey.

"I hope that everyone who has worked in health and social care will get their just reward for what has probably been the worst year in all of our careers."

Unison Cymru Wales, which represents a broad spectrum of NHS staff from cleaners to nurses, said its demand for a £2,000 rise was not a "Covid-bonus pay claim".

Paul Summers, the union's lead officer on health in Wales, said: "This is to recognise the years that pay has not gone up with the rate of inflation.

"It is an absolute scandal that we have NHS staff who have to rely on food banks to feed their families.

"Our pay claim would mean that we would go above the real living wage rate of over £10 an hour. It is to rectify the poor pay awards of the past as well."

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