Nurses to consider 'record-breaking' new Scot Govt pay deal

However nursing leaders urged members not to "just focus on the pounds", adding that the offer includes measures to improve workforce retention and safe staffing.

It comes after three trade unions - the Royal College on Nursing and Royal College of Midwives in Scotland, and the GMB - refused to accept a previous offer agreed to by Unison and Unite members, leaving the threat of industrial action open. 

Nurses, paramedics, and other NHS workers have already gone on strike in England - where the pay offer for 2022/23 is just 4.75% - with further walkouts looming in March. 

Under the updated offer, 160,000 NHS Agenda for Change staff – including nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others - will be offered an average 6.5 per cent increase in pay in 2023/24, on top of a 7.5% increase in the current financial year backdated to April. 

Over the two years, the lowest paid NHS staff would receive a consolidated 19.3% uplift, plus one-off payments of £387. 

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Mid-ranking Band 5 and 6 staff - which include most nurses and midwives - would get uplifts of 13.2-15.8% over two years plus one-off payments of between £461 to £703, depending on their salary. 

The offer also includes a commitment to support workforce recruitment, sustainability and retention.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “We have engaged extensively with trade union representatives over recent weeks, leaving no stone unturned to reach an offer which responds to the key concerns of staff.

"Our healthcare staff have shown how dedicated and hardworking they are time and again and I cannot thank them enough for their commitment, particularly over the last few challenging years.

“Over the two years of this £1 billion of increased investment in NHS Agenda for Change, a newly qualified nurse would see their pay increase by 15.8%, and experienced nurses at the top of band 5 would see their pay improve by over £4,700.

“This ensures that Scotland’s NHS Agenda for Change staff are, by far and away, the best paid anywhere in the UK.

"In fact, for NHS England to catch-up with Scotland the UK Government would need to offer increases in 2023/24 of over 14% at the top of band 5, over 13% at the top of band 6, and over 12% at the top of band 7."

The revised pay scales offered to Agenda for Change NHS staff in Scotland for 2022/23 and 2023/24 (Image: Scottish Government)

RCN Scotland said its board will consider the details of the offer and decide the next steps. 

Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, said: “The very strong strike mandate from RCN members in Scotland is what brought the Scottish government back to the negotiating table. 

“We now have a new offer for consideration and, as has been the case before, it is RCN members who will make the decision about what happens next. That process begins with RCN Scotland Board members looking at the offer in detail.” 

Julie Lamberth, a theatre nurse and chair of RCN Scotland, tweeted urging members to "read the offer and don't just focus on the pounds, though I absolutely know the money matters".

She added: "But there are other elements that will benefit nursing /midwifery and hopefully help retain and attract the workforce and further assist with ensuring safe staffing."

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Jaki Lambert, RCM director for Scotland, said the offer would give midwives "much of what we have been asking for around pay and working conditions".

She added: "This has come about because of the determination and readiness of our members across Scotland to take a stand for themselves, but also for better care for women, babies, and families.

"They made their voices heard and the Government has listened. 

"The RCM and other health unions have been negotiating hard to reach this point. Our members will now decide whether this offer is one they accept or reject.” 

Claire Ronald, senior negotiating officer at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said: “These latest talks highlight the stark contrast with the government in England who continue to bury their head in the sand and refuse to have any kind of discussion on pay, despite multiple days of industrial action and continued disruption to the NHS.

"The case for a better pay deal is overwhelming and we want Westminster to acknowledge this, as both governments in Scotland and Wales have done, by coming to the table in a genuine manner and settling these disputes."