NHS pay rise for staff in Wales considered after England deal

NHS managers and unions will meet the Welsh Government later to discuss pay, after staff in England were offered a £4.2bn deal.

Wales is expected to get around £210m extra under Treasury funding rules.

Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has pledged that all additional money will go into NHS pay in Wales.

England's Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has urged Wales to match his offer, worth at least 6.5% over three years to staff such as nurses and porters.

Some of the lowest-paid workers are set to receive 29%.

Scottish ministers have promised to ensure NHS workers there earn at least as much as their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.

Mr Gething told BBC Wales on Thursday: "I've given the clearest indication possible that every single penny that comes in that consequential of funding that comes into Wales for NHS pay for 'Agenda For Change' staff [which does not cover doctors and dentists] will go into their pay.

"It's a matter for NHS employers and NHS trade unions to agree on what that deal should look like."

He pointed out that there would be differences to the deal in England, saying NHS staff in Wales were already being paid the so-called "living" wage.