Nesbitt proposes two-stage process to make pay award to health workers

By David Young (PA)

Stormont’s Health Minister has proposed a two-stage process to deliver a recommended pay rise for health workers in a move he hopes will avert strike action.

Mike Nesbitt held talks with health unions and the professional bodies for dentists and doctors on Thursday to discuss the pay issue.

The meeting came after Mr Nesbitt earlier this week refused to support an Executive funding reallocation exercise, insisting the £350 million given to his department was not enough to cover recommended pay rises for healthcare staff.

Despite receiving 57% of the total funds shared among departments, the minister insisted he is still £100 million short of the money he needs to make pay awards of at least 5.5% to all health staff.

The PA news agency understands the minister has now proposed to make the pay award in two stages, with the first award backdated to August, rather than April.

Mr Nesbitt has said he will then work with Executive colleagues to find the funds required to cover the outstanding four months’ worth of backdating, with that paid at a later date.

Medics and other health workers in Northern Ireland are demanding parity with colleagues elsewhere in the UK.

There are two health sector pay bodies.

The NHS Pay Review Body, which makes recommendations on the pay of staff on the Agenda for Change terms and conditions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has recommended a 5.5% increase for 2024/25.

The review body for pay for doctors and dentists in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has recommended a 6% increase.

After his meetings on Thursday, Mr Nesbitt said he was now involved in a “process” with the unions and professional bodies after “detailed and constructive” discussions.

“I put my plan to them, I think they’ve accepted it as a serious proposition, but that’s one they need to take away, think about and consult upon,” he said.

“And, equally, they have put things to me that I have to take away, and in the first instance, discuss with the First Minister (Michelle O’Neill) and the deputy First Minister (Emma Little-Pengelly), and I will try and do that as a matter of urgency.

“Some of these decisions, I think, have to be Executive-wide, and in discussions with the first ministers yesterday, I’m content that they now agree that that is the case right across all these issues of public sector pay.”

The representative body for doctors, the BMA NI, said not making the full pay award would be unacceptable.

Dr Alan Stout, BMA NI Council chair, said: “At our meeting today the minister informed us that he is not in a position to make the full pay award.

“On behalf of all doctors in Northern Ireland, I made it clear this was totally unacceptable.

“I will now meet with the chairs of all the BMA branch of committees in Northern Ireland to seek their views on how to proceed.

“The scale of anger and outrage I have been hearing over the course of the last week is unprecedented.

“Doctors here are totally disillusioned with the Department of Health and its attitude towards doctors’ pay.

“They seem to believe that by paying us less than counterparts in the rest of the UK, it will somehow motivate us to work harder to address the chaos our health system is in.

“Without staff, our health service cannot function.

“It really is time to stop this cycle of doctors here constantly playing catch-up with the rest of the UK on pay.

“Pay awards need to be built into the financial planning the department undertakes, so they are not constantly caught by surprise at the notion staff will get a pay rise.”

Monday’s October monitoring round exercise allocated around £630 million of additional day-to-day spending funds that came to Northern Ireland after the UK Government’s Budget last month.

Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald has warned that, despite the funding boost from the Chancellor’s Budget, the devolved administration is still overcommitted by around £180 million this year.

She has made clear that ministers need to find more savings and balance the books, highlighting that failure to balance the overall Stormont budget by the end of the financial year would see the Westminster Government withdraw a previous offer to write off £559 million of debt owed to the Treasury.

The Treasury offer, made by the last government, to set aside the £559 million was conditional on the Executive delivering a balanced budget in 2024/25.

The £180 million shortfall has placed a question mark over the Executive’s ability to deliver a range of pay awards across the public sector.

On Wednesday, three of the largest trade unions representing teachers in Northern Ireland announced they will ballot members for industrial action over pay.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt. PICTURE: LIAM MCBURNEY/PA (Liam McBurney/PA)