The decision by the NHS Staff Council to accept the government’s pay offer is not the end of the stand-off between ministers and some healthcare workers, obviously. But it does mark a step away from the general hostility over pay that has marked the autumn and winter months.
Unite and the Royal College of Nursing are still threatening more strikes, even though they are on the council of 12 unions representing all NHS workers (save for doctors and dentists) in England. The vote at today’s Council meeting means the pay rise of 5 per cent for 2022/23 and 2023/24 and a one-off payment of at least £1,655 will go to all workers, but Unite and the RCN plan to hold out for more money. The unions who plan to go on striking are now weakened by their split from the majority, and also by the fact that Health Secretary Steve Barclay can point out that their members have already received the pay rise anyway, which may make it much harder to maintain public support for more strikes when the health service is struggling to recover from the pandemic.
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