NHS pay rise has public support

Savanta ComRes research, commissioned by 14 health unions, has found that the majority of the public want NHS staff to get more than a 1% payrise this year.

The below-inflation offer was supposed to be delivered on 01 April 2021 but what the unions said were “delaying tactics from Number 10” have meant workers for the health service have not yet seen any increase in their wages at all.

Of the 2,000 people surveyed, two-thirds (66%) said they want to see the government find additional resources to provide a better deal for NHS staff.

Unison General Secretary, Christina McAnea, said: “It’s clear public support for a proper rise is as high as ever. The Prime Minister must do the right thing by trying harder to find the money for the increase staff deserve.”

Acting Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, warned: “If politicians ignore NHS workers and the public, it’s inevitable more nurses will leave the profession – with patients and the wider public suffering as a result. The public will hold the government to account for the failure to address the pay crisis and the tens of thousands of vacancies.”

Gill Walton, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives added: “NHS staff work selflessly around the clock to ensure safe care, often working unpaid hours. The government must recognise that, and reverse years of pay stagnation meaning most staff are worse off now than they were a decade ago.”